Original: The strings (located offstage) play very slow, chorale-like music throughout the piece while on several occasions the trumpet (positioned behind the audience) plays a short motif that Ives described as "the eternal question of existence".
Simplified: The strings, playing from behind the stage, play very slow, chorale-like music throughout the piece while several times the trumpet (playing from behind the audience) plays a short group of notes that Ives described as "the eternal question of existence".