Composing for martha graham details of contemporary collaboration. This is a list of solo piano pieces by henry cowell. Cowell s respect for his fellows surely underlies his mosaic forms, in which separate segments of music can be put together in various ways. First encore to dynamic motion 1917 amiable conversation second encore to dynamic motion 1917. Cowell aimed to point out the influence the overtone series has exerted on music throughout its history, how many musical materials of all ages are related.
Piano music, written in 1963 and revised in 1993, assert that each phrase of anger dance may be repeated many times, depending on how angry the player is able to feel. Player one has woodblocks and dragons mouths, player two has chinese tomtoms and drums, three, rice bowls and cup gongs, four, cymbals and. Henry cowell at pytheas contemporary, modern, new, non. He mentions the diversity interests from his childhood, giving up violin at age 8, hearing irish tunes hummed by his father, early american ozark mountain tunes sung by his mother. Cowell returned to his home in the california foothills in 1910, his permanent home until 1936.
Henry cowell dancing with henry new discoveries in the. In his twentysix simultaneous mosaics of 1963 he provided that number of mobile elements for a mixed quintet of instrument some of the elements tonal including a strikingly bachlike dance for the. Cowell s analogy between harmony and rhythm is pretty exciting and the best part of the book. Henry cowell is known for combining asian instruments with traditional western ensembles. Joel sachs quotes henry cowell as feeling that as a composer, he was most concerned with the future of music. Contemporary piano music by distinguished american composers, isadore freed, editor. This is an excellent place to start, or to extend your knowledge of one of contemporary musics underrated figureheads, in a welldocumented, superbly produced. Henry cowell, american composer who, with charles ives, was among the most innovative american composers of the 20th century.
In the 19th century, cowell s oldgrowth redwoods were famous enough to attract luminaries like presidents benjamin harrison and theodore roosevelt. Since its original publication in 1930, henry cowell s new musical resources has become recognised as one of the few seminal technical studies to be written by a twentiethcentury composer. Henry cowell redwoods state park preserves a 40acre grove of the tallest tree species on earth. This book is dated somewhat, but i still give it five stars for its forward vision. Jan 17, 2015 henry cowell the banshee 1925 interpretes. Henry cowell, in full henry dixon cowell, born march 11, 1897, menlo park, california, u. Cowell grew up in poverty in san francisco and on family farms in kansas, iowa, and oklahoma.
Henry cowell died in 1965 at the charming house where he and sidney lived for many years in shady, new york, composing almost to the very end. Of all the early twentieth century american musical revolutionaries, perhaps composer henry cowell wielded the most vivid and farreaching influence. With henry miller, sally oliver, tim plester, audrey ardington. The irishman dances by henry cowell 18971965 solo part. Sway dance sheet music january 1, 1958 by henry cowell author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. I knew very little about henry cowell before reading this exceptionally wellwritten and utterly involving biography. Joan cervero, piano victor trescoli, piano strings. Henry cowell the piano music of henry cowell discogs. By contemporary standards, strumming the innards of a piano is old hat just as conventional as taking a fist to a piano and calling it art. Rhythmically cowell was as important in his ideas as stravinsky i believe. Even though at first it might sound a little farfetched, i think this whole idea is much more than just an analogy. A list of works in the composer category that are not included here can be found on this page. Henry searched for a father figure all of his life. Henry cowell sought solutions that would treat both art forms with equal respect.
Joel sachs offers the first complete biography of one of the most influential figures in twentiethcentury american music. By the summer of 1914, cowell was writing truly individualistic works, including the insistently repetitive anger dance originally mad dance. Henry cowell redwoods state park red wood grove loop trail. Find henry cowells phone, address, and email on spokeo, the leading online directory. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. He acquired a piano at age 14, and the following year he gave a concert of his. Sway dance by henry cowell 18971965 solo part sheet. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by virgil thomson, writing in the early 1950s. Some of the ideas seem obvious now and are indeed taken for granted, but something about this text makes them revelatory and seems to open up so many possibilities for. Henry dixon cowell henry dixon cowell 18971965 was an inventive and productive american composer, pianist, teacher, and author. Cowell resurrected this technique some years later in a violin sonata, played on fridays followup program. In the music, henry cowell s suite for violin and piano, the violin seems to slice though the piano part, almost to make it bleed.
Selected writings on music hardcover february 16, 2002 by henry cowell author visit amazons henry cowell page. Dance of the irish faber performance book level 2a duration. Henry cowell and the impact of his first european tour victor rischitelli, australian catholic university henry cowell at the new york public library. Making music for modern dance katherine teck oxford. Cowell, henry henry cowell plays his own piano music music. Making music for modern dance traces the collaborative approaches, working procedures, and aesthetic views of the artists who forged a new and distinctly american art form during the first half of the 20th century. Albums include piano music, the piano music of henry cowell, and tone cluster pieces concerto for celesta and harpsichord prelude for violin and harpsichord duet for violin and harpsichord cantilena and capriccio. Library of congress big trees station, circa 1910, near the site of the mail dispute. Dec 30, 2011 henry cowell 18971965 anger dance 1914 performed by henry cowell the anger dance was composed at a time when i had been very much annoyed by the fact that a doctor to whom i showed a bentup. Cowell, a remarkably talented and to a great extent selftaught avantgarde composer, saw his career nearly destroyed by the u. For this new edition, david nicholls has provided an explanatory essay and annotations to cowell s text. Naturally, in those dear, simple days of the 1920s and 1930s, audiences would rise in wrath whereas today they sit. Henry cowell at pytheas pytheas center for contemporary music. Pulse by henry cowell, dedicated to john cage and his percussion group, is scored for six players.
The book offers riveting firsthand accounts from innovative artists in the throes of their creative careers and provides a crosssection of the challenges faced by modern. Henry cowell, a major musical innovator of the first half of the century, left a rich body of compositions spanning a wide range of styles. A precocious pianist and violinist, he began composing by the age of 8. The anger dance was composed at a time when i had been very much annoyed by the fact that a doctor to whom i showed a bentup leg suggested that it should be cut off immediately. Library of congress santa cruz waterfront in 1866, shortly before henry cowell tried to claim it. Born in 1887 and raised poor in san francisco, he showed an early confidence in exploring new musical forms. In the late 1850s or early 1860s cowell made a substantial loan to the limemaking firm of davis and jordan. Henry cowell is fatter than he used to be and sadder than he used to be. Composer henry cowell and his musicologist wife published this book in 1955, shortly after ives 1954 death. The henry cowell papers document the composers life in great detail. Cowell himself came to the piano and played four of his pieces. Location was the presidio chapel, san francisco, ca.
Deep song, a solo modern dance by martha graham, premiered on december 19, 1937, at the guild theatre in new york city. Although henry cowell first appeared in public at age six as a violinist, his real career began as a pianist and composer of progressive music in 1912, when he presented a group of his pieces. Each player has two sets of three like instruments. About at the midpoint of last nights concert hon oring henry cowell, at the juilliard concert hall, mr.
Player one has woodblocks and dragons mouths, player two has chinese tomtoms and drums, three, rice bowls and cup gongs, four, cymbals and gongs, and five, pipe lengths and brake drums. Works on this discthe majority of which are recorded for the first time, many from unpublished manuscriptswere composed for doris humphrey, charles weidman dance of sport, bonnie bird, and martha graham heroic dance and suite for woodwind quintet. Henry dixon cowell was an american composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher. Henry cowell talks about his life and plays examples of his music from his entire career as a composera fascinating document. Henry cowell set of five 1952 a piece by composer henry cowell, recorded live on friday, november, 2009, during henry cowell the whole world of music, an event produced by other minds. Provided to youtube by smithsonian folkways recordings anger dance henry cowell piano music.
The threeday festival that bay area pianists and cal performances cosponsored in 1997 to mark henry cowells centennial was an exciting and often revelatory event. Henry cowell was an american composer, teacher and pianist. Oct 10, 2015 henry cowell went east too but only for a short time to claim his bride, harriet carpenter. My side of the story the relationship of music and dance. Brazilian pianist, eliane rodrigues, literally taking the performance below the stage. George antheil, henry cowell, leo ornstein hathut 6144solo piano pieces, including anger dance, the tides of manaunaun, and tiger. The barnes foundation presented an unusual recital of avantgarde music composed by henry cowell, john cage and george crumb. Cowell explains the overtone series and its relationship to the historical evolution of the concepts of consonance and dissonance, and how these ideas could be applied to rhythm. The table below gives the following information for works by henry cowell where applicable. Henry cowell was born march 11, 1897, in menlo park, calif. American experimental composer extended techniques tone. Henry cowell s music covers a wider range in both expression and technique than that of any other living composer.
Youll find all the rhythmic and metrical invention that we see daily in the works of carter, for instance. Henry cowell plays his own piano music henry cowell plays. He was a part of the avantegarde movement in music at the turn. They begin with the statement, nobody today writes just like charles ives because no one lives in the same musical and philosophical world he did. Jul 01, 2015 joel sachs quotes henry cowell as feeling that as a composer, he was most concerned with the future of music. Performed to music by henry cowell, the piece was the second work created by graham in response to the spanish civil war. Henry cowells music covers a wider range in both expression and technique than that.
The couple returned to san francisco and had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Sidney robertson cowell, an ethnomusicologist, writer and the widow of the composer henry cowell, died on thursday at her home in shady, n. Henry cowell s the banshee an audience sits in the dark facing a grand piano on a brightly lit stage. Since its original publication in 1930, henry cowell s new musical resources has become recognized as one of the few seminal technical studies to be written by a twentiethcentury composer. Jul 01, 20 henry cowell march 11, 1897 december 10, 1965 was an american composer, musical theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. For this 1996 edition, david nicholls has provided an explanatory essay and annotations to cowell s text. Even anger dance, a piece that came to cowell one day when he felt genuinely angry, was almost light and tripping in cahills hands.
Music profile for henry cowell, born 11 march 1897. Henry cowell confided to his wife the rage he still felt toward a father who had rejected him for so much of his life. Born in 1897 to a rural california family, cowell began to study the violin at age five, though his parents hopes of creating a prodigy on the instrument remained unfulfilled when the lessons had. List of solo piano compositions by henry cowell wikipedia. Sidney cowell, 92, ethnomusicologist and teacher the new. Etude from the old country, from the heaven ladder, book 5. Antimony fourth encore to dynamic motion, henry cowell, 3. But in this beautifullywritten biography, there is much to inspire and inform us about the past.
Henry cowell is the author of new musical resources 4. If you are interested in piano music and the course of 20th century musical history then you owe it to yourself to become acquainted with the remarkable worlds created by henry cowell. Other articles where new musical resources is discussed. March 11, 1897 december 10, 1965 was an american composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. Henry cowell the piano music of henry cowell 1963, tan. From henry cowell she inherited a rhythmic theory of complex polyrhythms, and from her husband, charles seeger, a system for dissonant counterpoint, and arguably made more fully evolved music. The 5 best spots around santa cruz to see redwoods. Please consult the manual of style for creating composer work lists. The pianos lid angles upward, the keyboard waits for. The first, immediate tragedy, was introduced in 1937. All compositions described by william lichtenwanger in his book the music of henry cowell. Henry cowell born march 11, 1897, menlo park, california, usa died december 10, 1965, shady, new york, usa was an american composer, music theorist, pianist. Sidney and henry cowell association for cultural equity.
263 1287 287 129 428 154 569 566 1253 121 919 259 308 1168 928 1198 1458 1005 193 690 705 55 1137 580 860 845 1225 1414 315 513 455 397 1152 351 1435 976 68