Cowell, Henry

Cowell, Henry (Dixon)

(born March 11, 1897, Menlo Park, Calif., U.S.—died Dec. 10, 1965, Shady, N.Y.) U.S. avant-garde composer. He began early to experiment with techniques such as tone clusters and direct manipulation of piano strings. Five tours of Europe as composer-pianist (1923–33) expanded his reputation. He coinvented the Rhythmicon, an instrument for producing several conflicting rhythms simultaneously. Immensely prolific, he wrote nearly 1,000 pieces, including 19 completed symphonies, hundreds of piano works, and many ballets. In 1927 he founded the journal New Music. His book New Musical Resources (1930) presented his compositional ideas. He was one of the most important innovators in the history of American music.

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Cowell, Henry (Dixon) (1897–1965) composer; born in Menlo Park, Calif. Largely self-taught as pianist and composer, in his teens he gravitated to radical musical experiments including his trademark use of tone-cluster harmony. From the 1920s he pursued an international career as composer, concert promoter, and pianist, specializing in his own and others' "ultra-modern" music; he also taught and wrote books including the 1919 New Musical Resources, and in 1927 founded the historic New Music Quarterly. In his own music, progressive ideas appear alongside traditional material; his works include 20 symphonies.