RUGGLES, Carl [1876-1971] -- American composer and painter

Founder and conductor of the Winona (MN) Symphony Orch. (1912-17); active in composers' organizations in New York (1923-33); taught composition at U. of Miami (1938-43); in later years turned to painting. Composed atonal, polyphonic works for orchestra, including Vox clamans in deserto (1923), Men and Mountains (1924, rev. 1936), Portals (1925, rev. 1952-53), The Sun-treader (1926-31), and the Man and His Changing Society textbook series (1929-45). [BD]

In a career spanning 5 decades his entire published catalog, played end to end, is but 80 minutes in length!

Ruggles became interested in art on a 1935 trip to Jamaica, and later began devoting more and more time to painting. His works hang in many galleries, including the Brooklyn Museum, Detroit Institute of Art, and the Whitney Gallery.