Charles Ives, one of the greatest and revolutionary American Composers, was born in October 20, 1874 and died May 19, 1954. Ives had probably one of the most interesting musical backgrounds one could ask for. His feather was a Band Master in Connecticut and much of his time was spent listening to his father’s band practice and parade alongside several other bands. Accompanying this was also a very open minded approach to music theory. His teaching included non-conventional practices such as bitonality and cluster chords.

Much of his music includes bitonality which is simply two keys being played at one time. This stems from not only his teachings but listening to the parades in which he heard several bands playing at one time while marching down the street. Most people would simply focus on one particular band and tune out the rest. However, Ives took what he heard more literally and applied it to his own music.

In this particular piece, Tone Pieces II. Allegro, the first theme comes in then a second theme enters and slowly gets strong. The first theme then begins to fade and a short while later the third theme starts to come in and so on. Listening to this and then thinking of his background helps put an insight into the mind of Charles Ives.