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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Henry Cowell (1897-1965)

Composer of the Week: Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Episode 5: The Extraordinary Entrepreneur

Henry Cowell (1897-1965)

Episode 5

Episode 5: The Extraordinary Entrepreneur

The Extraordinary Entrepreneur

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Henry Cowell (1897-1965), The Extraordinary Entrepreneur

Donald Macleod explores Cowell's later projects.

Donald Macleod explores Cowell's later projects, his life-long fascination with world music and his absorption of the rhythms and sounds he heard during a world tour with his wife.

Henry Cowell embarks on an ambitious, year-long world tour and experiences the music of other cultures first-hand.

Cowell's influence on American music has been immense, spread not only through more than 900 compositions of infinite variety, but through his many lectures, articles and recordings. One of the first advocates for World Music, his breadth of musical and cultural appreciation inspired pupils including John Cage and Lou Harrison. Cowell was tireless in his support of other contemporary composers, notably including Charles Ives and Ruth Crawford Seeger. He founded the New Music Society of California and ran the Pan American Association of Composers for much of their existence as well as founding the quarterly publication New Music.

Cowell's life is as unique as his music. Born in 1897 in Menlo Park, California his childhood was punctuated by periods of extreme poverty, which he alleviated by finding various means to earn money, including working as a cowherd and as a wildflower collector. Largely home schooled, his education was derived from his own natural curiosity. As a consequence Cowell acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge in diverse fields, yet he was unable to spell or do arithmetic with any degree of proficiency. A chance encounter with Stanford University psychologist Lewis Terman led to the recognition of his exceptional mind, and to some funding for a more formalised education, including studying with Charles Seeger at Stanford. Cowell carved out a career as an international concert pianist, presenting his own avant-garde pieces, despite the occasional riot and character assassinating reviews. Cowell's musical activities were interrupted in 1936. Then in his late thirties, Cowell pleaded guilty to a morals charge and spent four years in San Quentin prison. It was due to the efforts of his step-mother Olive and the folk-music scholar Sidney Hawkins Robertson, who later became his wife, that he was released on parole in 1940. Two years later he received a pardon from the California governor, which allowed him to take up a position within the US Office of War Information and later on for Cowell to receive several awards and accolades in respect of his outstanding contribution to music.

For the last time Donald Macleod is joined by Joel Sachs, conductor, pianist, professor at Juilliard School and author of a comprehensive biography of Henry Cowell. Today they discuss Cowell's later projects, his life-long fascination with world music and his absorption of the rhythms and sounds he heard while undertaking a world tour with his wife, the folk-music scholar Sidney Hawkins. There's a rare opportunity to hear Cowell's "Madras" Symphony, in a recording made by Joel Sachs with the New Juilliard Ensemble.

Firelight and Lamp
Robert Osborne, bass-baritone
Jeanne Golan, piano

Dynamic Motion
Henry Cowell, piano

Set of Five, Finale
Marily Dubow, violin
Gordon Gottlieb, percussion
Joel Sachs, piano

Persian Set, 1st movement
Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
Richard Auldon-Clark, conductor

Symphony No.13 (Madras)
New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, conductor

26 Simultaneous Mosaics
Jo-Ann Sternberg, clarinet
Deborah Redding, violin
Dorothy Lawson, cello
William Trigg, percussion
Amy Rubin, piano.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

A profile of US composer and pianist Henry Cowell

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Episode 5: The Extraordinary Entrepreneur

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