IVES, Charles
b Danbury, Connecticut, 20 October 1874
d New York, 19 May 1954, aged seventy-nine

His father was a well-known bandmaster who much influenced his son, a cornet-player in the town band. He went to Yale in 1894 but failed to absorb academic training and left in his first year there. He sold insurance in New York and in 1906 he co-founded an insurance company that gave him a comfortable income for the rest of his life. In 1928 ill-health forced him to stop composing, and in 1930 he retired from business to his farm in Connecticut. He became diabetic and suffered from a heart disease. His music is completely individual and uniquely American.

1891 (17)

Variations on 'America', for organ

1896 (22)

Quartet No 1, Revival Service

Symphony No 1 in D minor (1896 8)

1897-1902 (24-8)

Symphony No 2

1898-1907 (25-33)

Calcium Light Night, for chamber orchestra

Central Park in the Dark, for orchestra

1900-6 (29-32)

and 1914-15 (40-1)

Children's Day at the Camp Meeting, three pieces for violin and piano

1901? (27-30)

Symphony No 3

1902-10 (28-36)

Violin Sonata No 2

1905-8 (29-34)

Violin Sonata No 1

1905-14 (29-40)

Three Places in New England, for orchestra

1904 (30)

Thanksgiving, and/or Father's Day (Part 4 of Holidays Symphony)

1904-11 (33-7)

Theater Orchestra Set No 1

In the Cage

In the Inn

In the Night

1906 (32)

The Pond, for small orchestra

1908 (34)

The Unanswered Question, for small orchestra

1912-16 (36-42)

Symphony No 4

1911 (37)

Browning Overture

Hallowe'en, for piano and strings

The Gong on the Hook and Ladder, for small orchestra

Tone-Roads, No 1 for chamber orchestra (1911-15)

1912 (38)

Decoration Day (Part 2 of Holidays Symphony)

Lincoln, the Great Commoner, for chorus and orchestra

1913 (39)

Washington's Birthday (Part 1 of Holidays Symphony)

Fourth of July (Part 3 of Holidays Symphony)

Over the Pavements, for chamber orchestra

1914 (40)

Protests, piano sonata

1915 (41)

Concord, piano sonata (1909-15)

Orchestral Set No 2

Tone-Roads, No 3 for chamber orchestra

1919-27 (44-53)

Orchestral Set No 3

Ives also composed:

Eleven volumes of chamber music

The Celestial Country, for chorus

Three Harvest horn e Chorales

General Booth's Entrance into Heaven, with brass band and chorus

Many psalm settings and other choral works

About 200 songs

Many piano pieces