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String piano
- Cowell pioneered piano extended techniques for what he dubbed "string piano", involving reaching inside the piano and plucking, sweeping, scraping, thumping, and otherwise manipulating the strings directly, rather than using the keyboard. He developed these techniques in numerous pieces such as Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepared_piano
Henry Cowell's music covers a wider range in both expression and technique than that of any other living composer. His experiments begun three decades ago in rhythm, in harmony, and in instrumental sonorities were considered then by many to be wild.
Henry Cowell 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.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mar 29, 2019 · Cowell’s compositions from 1912- 1930 all used extended techniques of plucked piano strings and tone clusters–a term that Cowell coined, which are notes played very close to one another on the piano.
Henry Cowell wrote hundreds of piano compositions in which he notated the use of extended technique, where the performer plays with their fists, forearms, and palms, in addition to fingers.
Nov 19, 2020 · The techniques can range from the gentle strumming and glissandi of Aeolian Harp (1923) that seeks to mimic the pastoral sounds of a harp, to the harsh, eerie scrapes, slides, and plucks of The Banshee (1925).
Aug 14, 2010 · As a teenager he experimented with different ways to play the instrument, and Cowell became the first composer to write pieces based on a fist-and-forearm tone-cluster technique. When he concertized in Europe, exhibiting this radical music before astonished audiences, Bela Bartok asked him if he could use these methods in his own music.
Abstract. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) gained fame for his musical innovations during the 1910s and 1920s—especially for his use of clusters (which he defined as “chords built from major and minor seconds”), his conceptualization of the string piano (a technique of plucking and otherwise manipulating the piano strings rather than striking the ...
