Outsider music: classics of American classical music (60) - Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question (1908) Ives: The Unanswered Question The first authentically American composer, the one who gave rise to the "American school," after centuries of not very original European epigones. An insurance agent, a hobbyist composer (and was thus snubbed for a long time), he is now remembered as one of the great names of the early twentieth century, alongside the more famous Schoenberg and Stravinsky. He only managed to get recognition for his work late in life, when he had already stopped composing for decades, thanks also to the worthy efforts of conductors like Leonard Bernstein in re-evaluating his contributions.