What is one purpose of dissonance in Central Park in the Dark?

• A. To create tension and drama, with release back to consonance
• B. To enforce a single, unwavering key center
• C. To simplify texture and melody
• D. To avoid any contrast in timbre

Answer: (A)

Dissonance here serves to create tension and drama, then guide the listener through a release back to consonance. In Central Park in the Dark, the unsettling intervals and clashes mirror the chaotic, nocturnal city mood—sirens, distant crowds, and night wind—so the music feels alive and unsettled. When it moves back to consonant harmony, that tension resolves and provides a sense of relief or arrival, like a moment of quiet after the tension.

The other ideas don’t fit because they’d imply a stable, unchanging musical world (a single key center), a simplification of the texture and melody, or removing timbral contrast—all of which would dampen the expressive, urban character Ives creates with deliberate dissonance and contrast.