The feeling of nostalgia is characteristic of Ives’ “The Things Our Fathers Loved.” Similar to Three Places in New England, this piece transplants the listener to a different time and place. The opening line, “I think there must be a place in the soul all made of tunes, of tunes of long ago,” is representative of his music’s objective. Ives is attempting to extract the listener and bring him into a specific time and location through music.

“The Things Our Fathers Loved” begins, already with marked dissonance, slowly. Rather than saying, “I know,” Ives writes, “I think,” and the opening is demonstrative of his uncertainty. He almost presents his hypothesis with this timid opening, the polar opposite of the opening of “Putnam’s Camp,” and proves it gradually over the course of the piece.

The singing and the accompanying piano paint the scene for us. When he sings, “Aunt Sarah humming Gospels,” the rise in pitch and softer singing prompt us to imagine gospel music, while the softer singing and lighter piano accompaniment that follow provoke images of “summer evenings.”

A cadence between “summer evenings” and “the village cornet band” mark a stark shift in mood. While previously painting a picture for us, Ives now is eliciting a more abstract sentiment: American nationalism. The music almost resembles a potential anthem. However, there is still a remarkable number of dissonances accompanying the music but unlike the introduction, it does not elicit a gloomy and doubtful sentiment. Rather, Ives is representing the struggle and fight, through which “our Fathers” suffered.

However, the shift in mood is only temporary, and Ives returns to the slower melodic line of the opening. The final note is remarkably dissonant and is the last thing heard in the piece. It restates the feelings of nostalgia.