The song "Immortality" is dated 1921 in Ives' book of 114 Songs, but its origins might go back to the miscarriage his wife suffered in 1909.

In this song, whose words are by Ives himself, the singer asks "who dares to say the spring is dead" in autumn, and "who dares to say the rose is dead" in winter. The music begins to get more agitated, and the rhythms choppier and faster, as the singer asks "who dares to say our child is dead!"

The language of the song is tonal, firmly in C major at the beginning and radiantly so at the end, with Ives' typical tendency to slip suddenly outside the key at the emotional high point.

It is an affecting song; the sudden shift from agitated denial of death to a faith-based certainty of the same is a magical moment.



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