Are Ives compositions performed frequently?
Relative to other American composers, Ives’ compositions are performed fairly frequently. But relative to European composers, Ives is performed very rarely–even in the U.S.A. Consider the following statistics from Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI): Ives was the fifth most performed American composer in the USA during 2004 (behind Copland, Barber, Bernstein, and Gershwin). In 2003, Ives ranked third behind Copland and Bernstein. Interestingly, the totals by all American composers pale in comparison with the most-performed standard repertoire composers: Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms are performed exponentially more than any American composer.
