Listening (The Unanswered Questions and Concord Sonata)

I thought that Charles Ives was a composer that had a very determined look on composing music. While he was businessman as well as a musician he truly encapsulated American classical music with his work. In the Unanswered Question he used the strings in the background to provide a background that would change. However the change was always very slight. He put many layers over that background which gave the composition its unique characteristic. The use of the cornet/trumpet was an interesting way of giving a layer to his piece. In the Concord Sonata, a piece for the piano, there seemed to be a bright yet hidden message in the work. The tempo is slow, that the "planned silence" is very effective. Overall, Charles Ives was a man of both words and his compositions reflected that situation.