Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) was a German-born American composer and violinist. Born in Alsace, he trained in Europe before settling in the United States and joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a violinist.

His works include chamber music, orchestral pieces, songs and works for unusual combinations. He was admired in his lifetime for scores such as A Pagan Poem and Music for Four Stringed Instruments.

Loeffler’s music is refined, atmospheric and often touched by French symbolism and impressionist colour. It has a taste for unusual sonorities and a cultivated, slightly shadowed elegance.

He occupies a distinctive place in American music: European by formation, American by career, and cosmopolitan in sound. Loeffler’s music often seems to speak in velvet from a half-lit room.