The Life of Charles IvesIves' life (1874 1955) spanned two centuries; he grew up in the nineteenth and composed chiefly in the twentieth. His nostalgia for a simpler life in the New England town of his youth is revealed in his frequent musical quotation of songs of that earlier time: parlor and patriotic songs, hymns and gospel music that he learned from his father, a village bandmaster, and the most important influence on his life and music. This book clarifies the