charles edward ives (october 30, 1874 – may 19, 1954) was an american composer. he experimented with new ways of composing which many people did not understand at the time. these became more widely used later in the century. he used dissonant (harsh) sounding intervals and techniques such as polytonality (playing in several keys at once), polyrhythms (several rhythms at once) and polytextures (several textures at once). very few people listened to his music at the time he was writing it. only much later did musicians start to realize the importance of his work. ives earned his living as an insurance agent. he composed in his spare time.