| American composer, known for his innovations
and wide-ranging interests. Born in Menlo Park, Calif., he studied composition
and ethnomusicology with the American scholar Charles Seeger (1886-1979)
and the Austrian Erich von Hornbostel (1877-1935). In early piano works
such as "The Tides of Manaunaun" (1912), Cowell introduced tone
clusters by striking the keys with forearm or fist; in "The Banshee"
he plucked the piano strings directly under the lid, an idea systematically
developed by his pupil, American composer John Cage. As a champion of American
contemporary composers, Cowell founded the New Music Quarterly in 1927.
His European tours provoked riotous protests against his experimentalism.
Yet he was as much a neoclassicist as an innovator. His works include 20
symphonies (1918-65); Hymns and Fuguing Tunes (1943-47), inspired by the
early American composer William Billings; chamber and choral music; and
works for band. |