Baseball and the Music of Charles Ives: A Proving Ground

Through intelligent discussion of Ives's musical compositions combined with solid research on the composer's lifelong love of the American pastime, Ives's pioneering spirit and unique creativity are highlighted most clearly in this fascinating work. After a useful review of the development of baseball in Ives's time coupled with a succinct biography, Johnson examines the heavy influence of the game and some of its players on Ives's development as a composer. The observations made here are fre…