Henry Cowell’s Three Irish Legends for Piano: Interpretation and Playing Technique

Authors

  • Thisara Wongsaengchan
  • Panjai Chulapan Faculty of fine and applied arts, Chulalongkorn university

Keywords:

Henry Cowell, Tone Cluster, 20th Century Piano Music

Abstract

          This research article focuses on Three Irish Legends for Piano composed by Henry Cowell, an American composer. The set consists 3 compositions: The Tides of Manaunaun, The Hero Sun, and The Voice of Lir. An unconventional technique called tone clusters has been applied by the composer, indicating a pianist to use forearms or the flat of the hands. To come up with precise notation of the new technique, Cowell developed new symbols as well as detailed explanations and performance instructions.

References

Barelos, Stacey. “Henry Cowell-Piano Music.” Accessed February 8, 2020. http://www.cowellpiano.com/

Hicks, Michael. Henry Cowell, Bohemian. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002.

_____________. “Cowell's Clusters.” The Musical Quarterly 77, 3 (1993): 428–458.

Johnson, Steven. “Henry Cowell, John Varian, and Halcyon.” American Music 11, 1 (1993): 1–27.

Weisgall, Hugo. “The Music of Henry Cowell.” The Musical Quarterly 45, 4 (1959): 484–507.

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Published

16.07.2021

How to Cite

Wongsaengchan, Thisara, and Panjai Chulapan. 2021. “Henry Cowell’s Three Irish Legends for Piano: Interpretation and Playing Technique”. Rangsit Music Journal 16 (2):43-58. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/rmj/article/view/246223.

Issue

Section

Research Article