A businessman by day and a composer by night, Charles Ives pursued
what is perhaps one of the most extraordinary and paradoxical careers in
American music history. Inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, Ives
sought a highly personalized musical expression through the most
innovative and radical technical means possible. A fascination with
bi-tonal forms, polyrhythms, and quotation was nurtured by his father
who Ives would later acknowledge as the primary creative influence on
his musical style. Ironically, much of Ives's work would not be heard
until his virtual retirement from music and business in 1930 due to
severe health problems. In 1947, Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for
his Symphony No. 3, according him a much deserved modicum of
international renown. Soon after, his works were taken up and championed
by such leading conductors as Leonard Bernstein and, by the time of his
death in 1954, he had witnessed a rise from obscurity to a position of
unsurpassed eminence among the world's leading performers and musical
institutions.
