Tiger, Aeolian Harp

Regarded as a pivotal figure in American avant-garde music, Henry Cowell (1897-1965) produced works that continue to impress and inspire. He was born and raised in California to Irish immigrants, and it would be echoes of Irish music that Cowell would return to again and again for inspiration, alongside much more esoteric influences. His works move from reflection to cataclysm. After meeting with modernist composer Leo Ornstein, Cowell pioneered new techniques of producing sound, particularly from the piano. These include massive chord clusters—played by the pianist with their forearms laid across the keys—and strummed strings inside the open lid. Both Tiger (1930) and Aeolian Harp (1923) demonstrate these novel techniques, and they are a record of Cowell’s inventive quest for totally original sonic effects that would challenge musical conventions. Tiger was inspired by William Blake’s poem by the same name:

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Jarring chord clusters stand in relief against the relative calm of atonal melodies. Aeolian Harp, as its name implies, gravitates toward strummed or swept fingers inside the piano. It contrasts dramatically with Tiger, showing Cowell’s fascination with the piano’s unconventional timbres.

(c) Jason Stell