Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

's 1938 work ''Rhythmicana'' is a suite of piano pieces centered on polyrhythms and dissonant counterpoint. It is known for its

unusual time signatures The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, with the first two movements being in time, and the third movement having the polymeter of in the right hand and in the left.

Background

Cowell had already used the title for his

rhythmicon The Rhythmicon—also known as the Polyrhythmophone—was an electro-mechanical musical instrument designed and built by Leon Theremin for composer Henry Cowell, intended to reveal connections between rhythms, pitches and the harmonic series. It ...

concerto seven years earlier. The complexity results from Cowell's lifelong preoccupation with rhythmic exploration. The piece is dedicated to J. M. Beyer.

References

External links

* 20th-century classical music 1938 compositions Compositions by Henry Cowell Compositions for solo piano Compositions that use extended techniques Modernist compositions {{Classical-composition-stub