Ives's innovative, musically rebellious spirit was inherited from his father, George Ives (1845–94) who had been a bandmaster in the American Civil War. After the war he settled in the small manufacturing city of Danbury, Connecticut, where he led a local band and a church choir, and taught music in nearby schools. George Ives's experimentation with musical forms was highly unorthodox for his time. For example, music lessons for “Charlie,
” born , included getting...