Charles Edward Ives (October 20, 1874 – May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed for decades after composition, with public recognition coming through the efforts of Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison, and others. He was also among the first composers to engage in experimental music (including polytonality, polyrhythm, tone clusters, aleatory elements, and quarter tones) which foreshadowed later 20th century art music trends.
Sources of Ives's tonal imagery included hymn tunes and traditional songs; he also incorporated melodies of the town band at holiday parade, the fiddlers at Saturday night dances, patriotic songs, sentimental parlor ballads, and the melodies of Stephen Foster.
| | Variations on "America" (1891) |
| | Symphony No. 3, S.3 (K.1A3) "The Camp Meeting" (1910) |