Transcendental Cakewalk is a dance in the spirit of early twentieth-century American popular music. It is a projected accompaniment to an \ opera on the meeting of Mark Twain and Charles Ives (an event which actually happened). In the opera, Twain (who is examining Ives as to his fitness to be the groom of Harmony Twichell, Twain’s god-daughter) sits down at the piano, begins playing, and Ives joins in fourhand. The increasingly rambunctious and joyous music which results is an evocation of the generous and adventurous spirits of both artists.

In two portions of the work, improvisation is encouraged, especially in the repeated penultimate pair of measures. Instructions are detailed in the score itself.