The Creative Charles Ives

Ives was born in Danbury, Connecticut in 1874 and died in New York in 1954. At fourteen years of age, he became the organist at Danbury Baptist Church. During this time, he wrote his Variations on ‘America’.

In 1891 he attended Yale, studying with Dudley Buck (organ) and Horatio Parker (composition). In 1907, Ives opened his own insurance agency, deciding to divide his time between his business and his composing.

Ives’ most important composing happened up to and including the year 1917. His Third Symphony (The Camp Meeting) was a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1947, although it was actually written in 1904.

Ives worked too hard and damaged his health. In 1918, he developed some serious heart damage, which forced him to cut back his workload until his retirement in 1930.

An Amazing Ives Fact

Ives’ father enjoyed experimenting with music (polytonality, quartertones, etc…) and was a huge influence.

Piano Music | Chamber Classical Music | Inspirational Orchestral Music | Classical Composers | Name That Music | Free Composition and Piano Lessons | Piano Music Notes | Learn Music Theory | Finale Music Writing Software | Composing Music to Films | Writing Classical Score | List of Instruments | Music Sound Recording Studios | Multitrack Recording Process | Music Mixing Advice