Noah Schlottman

3/9/15
MUSC 1050
The Cage by Charles Ives
It is evident from the start that The Cage is built on a foundation of fourths. The
harmony is quartal throughout, consisting almost solely of chords of stacked fourths. The first
seven chords that introduce the song and are repeated 2 or 3 times provide a harmonic
framework (a seven chord sequence) that is expanded upon in the rest of the song. The first six of
these are stacked fourth chords that move in parallel motion and expand into a non-fourth chord
that emphasizes the M6 interval (the chord itself is an implied F# minor seventh over a D minor
chord). After the first bar, this sequence is played again, now transposed up a perfect fourth and
in different rhythm. By transposing this sequence yet again, this time up two perfect fourths, we
find the fifteenth chord, starting the cycle again. This time the sequence is interspersed with
passing quartal (on C#, D, D#) and quintal (on A, G, F#) chords that move in half-step
motion. Although it retains some of its original contour, this iteration of the sequence does not
include all of the original seven, omitting what were originally the fourth and sixth chords in the
series and vastly expanding on the last chord. This last chord breaks out of the already open
quartal harmonic space by spelling out a complete whole-tone scale in the right hand and a
dominant seventh chord in the left with smooth voice leading in contrary outward motion. The
final three chords are a restatement of the very first three with different rhythm.
The melody in and of itself moves through five whole-tone collections that break up the
poem into five phrases (according to the slashes): A leopard went around his cage/from one side
back to the other side; he stopped/only when the keeper came around with meat/A boy who had
been there three hours began to wonder/Is life anything like that? Different whole-tone
collections are sung in each phrase, transitioning by half-step between all but the last phrase,
which starts a minor third below the fourth phrase. The majority of the notes in the melody are
also in the harmony, but there are deviations from this within each phrase.
The harmonic and melodic structures demonstrate a layering of different cycles of
musical ideas that come together in a surprisingly rigid-sounding framework. The mechanical
timing with which it is to be played as well as the recycling of quartal harmonic relationships up
perfect fourths are just two examples of how Ives musically depicts the cagefour walls
enclosing four constantly pacing feet. He also places the boy physically outside the cage by
relegating the melody to whole-tone collections, in which the interval of a perfect fourth does not
exist. So although the boy is not within the cage, he still contemplates on what is within, and
therefore sings mostly within the harmonies. If this is the case, the whole-tone chord held under
wonder could imply that the human capacity to even imagine such a thing can never ultimately
be caged. The question that is then posed is a continuation of the statement, but feels like a
response to the question of this unbounded wonder-ing. The harmony reinforces the question
by reminding us of the other cage metaphor that permeates the piece concerning cycles. The
harmonic and melodic cycling, along with the image of the pacing leopard, imply that the final
chords could just continue on, and the cycles of life or routine are themselves human cages.
Through this lens, Ives musical setting makes sense and is reflected in this performance.
The piano is strictly in time and seems almost automated, the voice taking on an unearthly
quality as the singer punctuates each word with child-like quality. The tempo at which chose to

perform allows such vocal articulation, but also gives it a stilted quality, since the pace is just
slightly slower than regular speech but much more enunciated. The choice to perform the
beginning piano sequence three times (which makes up half the length of the piece) also
emphasizes the cyclical elements of the piece and creates an existing harmonic space that the
text, the boy, the melody only visit. After the vocal interruption, the song ends, but it is implied
that the harmonic cycle continues on, just as it did in the beginning.