Charles Ives may be the first American classical composer recognized as great by Europeans. His music was unique, combining traditional American popular and church themes with 20th Century European "Art" music.
It's a lot better than I just made it sound.
Ives is interesting, because he is in some ways a throwback to the great experimentalists and improvisers of the Classical period, like Mozart. He would take a theme and embellish and rework it into something that transcends the original material. Ives could be described as playful, changing rhythms, keys, and introducing ragtime-inspired techniques like tone clusters.
It makes for some mighty interesting listening, from a real American original.
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