- In full:
- Henry Dixon Cowell
- Born:
- March 11, 1897, Menlo Park, California, U.S.
- Died:
- December 10, 1965, Shady, New York (aged 68)
- Founder:
- “New Music Quarterly”
- Subjects Of Study:
- Rhythmicon
Henry Cowell
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Who was Henry Cowell?
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was an innovative American composer, alongside Charles Ives, of the 20th century. Growing up in poverty, he began composing early, giving a concert of experimental piano works at age 15. He studied with Charles Seeger, who encouraged him to study traditional music and develop a theoretical framework, resulting in Cowell's influential book, New Musical Resources.
During 1923–33, Cowell toured Europe as a composer and pianist. He taught at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University. From 1936 to 1940, he was jailed for homosexual conduct.
Cowell sought new sounds, and he developed "tone clusters." He also experimented with playing directly on piano strings and built the Rhythmicon with Leon Theremin. His compositions reflected interests in American hymnology, Irish folklore, and non-Western music. Cowell founded the New Music Quarterly in 1927 to publish modern composers' scores and also co-authored Charles Ives and His Music.
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What type of music did Henry Cowell compose?
Henry Cowell was an innovative 20th-century American composer who experimented with a variety of musical styles, including techniques from non-Western music. He is known for his piano pieces that used "tone clusters," or "secondal harmonies," which are chords produced by depressing several adjacent keys simultaneously. Examples of these harmonies can be found in his early piano pieces, such as The Tides of Manaunaun (1912), his Piano Concerto (1930), and his Synchrony (1931) for orchestra and trumpet solo. Some of his other piano compositions, such as Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925), are played directly on the piano strings, which are rubbed, plucked, struck, or otherwise sounded by the hands or by an object.
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What is Henry Cowell known for in the world of music?
Henry Cowell, an innovative American composer alongside Charles Ives, is known for his experimental approach to music. He created "tone clusters" by depressing several adjacent piano keys simultaneously and explored playing directly on piano strings to produce new sounds. Cowell's interest in non-Western music and rural American hymnology also influenced his compositions. He founded the New Music Quarterly to publish modern composers' scores and significantly impacted composers like John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin.
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How did Henry Cowell create new sounds on the piano?
Henry Cowell, an innovative 20th-century American composer, sought new sonorities on the piano by creating "tone clusters," or "secondal harmonies," which involved depressing several adjacent keys simultaneously, often with his forearm. Examples of this can be heard in his early piano pieces, such as The Tides of Manaunaun (1912), his Piano Concerto (1930), and his Synchrony (1931) for orchestra and trumpet solo.
Cowell also composed pieces, such as Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925), that required direct manipulation of the piano strings by rubbing, plucking, or striking them.
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Which other composers did Henry Cowell influence?
Henry Cowell was an innovative 20th-century American composer who influenced several well-known composers, including John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin. Cage, an avant-garde composer, studied with Cowell. Some of Cowell's other students include well-known composers such as John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin.
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How did Henry Cowell's music change the development of American classical music?
Henry Cowell, an innovative American composer alongside Charles Ives, significantly impacted 20th-century American classical music. Cowell's experimental piano compositions, starting at age 15, led to his development of "tone clusters," or "secondal harmonies," created by depressing multiple adjacent piano keys simultaneously. Examples include The Tides of Manaunaun and Piano Concerto.
Other innovations include playing directly on piano strings in pieces like Aeolian Harp and The Banshee, and his Mosaic Quartet allowed performers to arrange musical blocks in any order. Cowell's interest in non-Western music, rural American hymnology, and Irish folklore also influenced his compositions. Several well-known composers, such as John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin, studied with Cowell.
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Henry Cowell (born March 11, 1897, Menlo Park, California, U.S.—died December 10, 1965, Shady, New York) was an American composer who, along with Charles Ives, was among the most innovative American composers of the 20th century.
Cowell grew up in poverty in San Francisco and on family farms in Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. He acquired a piano at age 14, and the following year he gave a concert of his experimental piano compositions. At 17 he studied at the University of California with the influential musicologist Charles Seeger, who persuaded him to undertake the systematic study of traditional European musical techniques. He also urged Cowell to formulate a theoretical framework for his innovations, which he did in his book New Musical Resources (1919; published 1930), an influential technical study of music. While studying comparative musicology in Berlin with Erich von Hornbostel, Cowell became interested in the music of other cultures; he later studied Asian and Middle Eastern music, elements of which he absorbed into many of his own compositions.
In 1923–33 Cowell undertook a series of tours of Europe as composer and pianist. Many of his concerts provoked uproar, but they also brought him to the attention of leading modern European composers. He taught at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1932–52 and, from 1949, at Columbia University. From 1936 to 1940 he was incarcerated in San Quentin state prison on charges of homosexual conduct. He continued to write music while in prison, and in 1940 he was paroled to the custody of composer Percy Grainger. Cowell was granted a full pardon in 1942.
Cowell’s innovations appear particularly in the piano pieces written between 1912 and 1930. Seeking new sonorities, he developed “tone clusters,” chords that on the piano are produced by simultaneously depressing several adjacent keys (e.g., with the forearm). Later he called these sonorities secondal harmonies—i.e., harmonies based on the interval of a second in contrast to the traditional basis of a third. These secondal harmonies appear in his early piano pieces, such as The Tides of Manaunaun (1912); in his Piano Concerto (1930); and in his Synchrony (1931) for orchestra and trumpet solo. Some of his other piano compositions, such as Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925), are played directly on the piano strings, which are rubbed, plucked, struck, or otherwise sounded by the hands or by an object. Cowell’s Mosaic Quartet (1935) was an experiment with musical form; the performers are given blocks of music to arrange in any desired order. With the Russian engineer Leon Theremin, Cowell built the Rhythmicon, an electronic instrument that could produce 16 different simultaneous rhythms, and he composed Rhythmicana (1931; first performed 1971), a work specifically written for the instrument.
Cowell wrote numerous pieces reflecting his interest in rural American hymnology, Irish folklore and music, and non-Western music. In order to publish the scores of modern composers, he founded the New Music Quarterly in 1927 and was its editor until 1936. He also edited American Composers on American Music (1933) and with his wife, Sidney Cowell, wrote Charles Ives and His Music (1955). A number of well-known American composers, including John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin, studied with and were influenced by Cowell.