Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (October 20, 1874 – May 19, 1954) was an American modernist[1] composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown,[2] though Ives’ music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an “American Original”.[3] Ives combined the American popular and church-music traditions of his youth with European art music, and was among the first composers to engage in a systematic program of experimental music, with musical techniques including polytonality, polyrhythm, tone clusters, aleatoric elements, and quarter tones,[4] foreshadowing many musical innovations of the 20th century.