Carl Ruggles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carl Ruggles
Detail from a portrait of Ruggles taken in Minnesota, c. 1911
Born	(1876-03-11)March 11, 1876 Marion, Massachusetts, USA
Died	October 24, 1971(1971-10-24) (aged 95) Bennington, Vermont, USA
Occupation	Composer painter teacher violinist
Notable work	Men and Mountains (1924) Sun-Treader (1926–31)
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Snell ​ ​ (m. 1906; died 1957)​
Children	1 (Micah Ruggles)
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Carl Ruggles (born Charles Sprague Ruggles; March 11, 1876 – October 24, 1971) was an American composer, painter, and teacher. He created music that sounded quite different from traditional pieces. His style used something called "dissonant counterpoint". This means he combined musical lines that often sounded clashing or "dissonant" on purpose.

Ruggles was a perfectionist. He worked very slowly on his music, which means he didn't write many pieces. Even though he didn't have formal music lessons, he became a key figure in a group of American composers known as the ultramodernists. These included Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford Seeger. Ruggles was known for his strong personality. Yet, he was good friends with many famous artists and musicians like Charles Ives and the painter Thomas Hart Benton. Later in his life, he also became a successful painter, selling hundreds of his artworks.

Early Life of Carl Ruggles

Growing Up in Massachusetts

Carl Ruggles was born in Marion, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1876. His family name came from a town in England called Rugeley. Many of his ancestors were important people in early Massachusetts, serving in the military and government.

Carl's parents were Nathaniel and Maria Josephine Ruggles. His mother, Maria, sang him traditional songs, which sparked his early interest in music. When he was just six, Carl made his own violin from a cigar box! He learned to play by ear, meaning he could play tunes just by listening, without reading notes. People came from far away to hear him play lively hornpipes and jigs. Once, when he was nine, President Grover Cleveland and the first lady Rose Cleveland even heard him play. Carl performed violin duets with the first lady!

A New Name and New Skills

Carl's mother passed away when he was fourteen. After that, he lived with his father and grandmother in Lexington, Massachusetts. He wasn't very close to his father later in life.

Early on, he changed his first name from Charles to Carl. He admired German composers like Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss very much. Even though he never legally changed it, he always signed his name "Carl Ruggles." By 1892, when he was only 16, he became the director of the YMCA orchestra. People were impressed by his violin playing and his confident presence on stage.

Carl Ruggles' Music Career

Starting Out as a Composer

In 1899, Carl Ruggles had his first songs published. These included "How Can I Be Blythe and Glad" and "Maiden with Thy Mouth of Roses." He later destroyed most of his early works, so we don't know much about them. As his family's money situation got worse, Carl had to find work. He taught violin and music theory, but it didn't bring in much money. From 1902 to 1903, he also wrote music reviews for local newspapers. He wasn't afraid to share his strong opinions in his reviews!

Moving to Minnesota and Marriage

In 1906, Carl met Charlotte Snell, a singer. He wanted to find a steady job so they could get married. This led him to Winona, Minnesota, where he taught violin at the Mar D'Mar School of Music. He also performed as a soloist and eventually directed the Winona Symphony Orchestra. Charlotte joined him in Winona as a vocal teacher.

Composing in New York

In 1912, Ruggles moved to New York City. He started working on an opera based on a German play. However, he never finished it. This was partly because he composed very slowly. Also, during World War I, there was a lot of anti-German sentiment (strong feelings against Germany), which made it hard to work on a German-themed opera. He later destroyed what he had written, feeling he wasn't good at writing for the stage.

To earn money, Ruggles gave composition lessons. In 1919, for his son's fourth birthday, he wrote a piece called Toys. This was his first work in his unique, modern style, using "atonal" (music without a clear home key) and "contrapuntal" (multiple independent melodies played together) sounds.

Later Life and Passing Away

Carl Ruggles continued to live and compose in New York until 1938. Then, he taught music at the University of Miami for a few years. After that, he moved to a converted one-room school in Vermont. There, he spent his time making changes to his old compositions and painting. He created hundreds of paintings throughout his life and even had his own art shows.

In 1963, he was chosen to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a group that honors important artists and writers. Ruggles was known for his direct way of speaking. He smoked cigars and wasn't afraid to criticize other composers.

Carl Ruggles' wife, Charlotte, passed away in 1957. They had one son, Micah. Ruggles himself died in Bennington, Vermont, on October 24, 1971, after a long illness.

Carl Ruggles' Music Style

How He Composed

Carl Ruggles didn't learn music theory formally. He composed by "trial and error." He would sit at the piano, move his fingers around, and listen carefully to the sounds. He once said he never analyzed other composers' pieces. Most of his early works were destroyed, so we don't know exactly how they sounded.

His music often used "dissonant" sounds and "contrapuntal" styles. This means his melodies often clashed on purpose, creating a unique sound. He had a special rule: he usually avoided repeating a musical note (a "pitch class") until about eight other notes had been played. Because he worked so slowly and revised his pieces many times, he only completed ten musical works in his lifetime.

His Most Famous Work: Sun-Treader

Sun-Treader is Carl Ruggles' most famous and longest piece, lasting about 16 minutes. He was inspired by a line from a poem by Robert Browning: "Sun-treader, light and life be thine forever!" The music often uses specific intervals (distances between notes) like minor seconds, perfect fourths, and augmented fourths.

A cool feature of Sun-Treader is its "waves" of sound. The music often starts quietly and low, then builds up to a loud, high point, and then goes back down. Even within these big waves, there are smaller ups and downs, making the music feel like a fractal pattern. Sun-Treader was first performed in Paris in 1932. It had its first U.S. performance in 1966, celebrating Ruggles' 90th birthday.

Carl Ruggles is considered one of "The American Five" composers. This group included other important American modernist composers like Charles Ives and Henry Cowell. His music was published by Theodore Presser Company.

List of Carl Ruggles' Compositions