Experimentalism—New Sounds, New Techniques
The label of “experimental music” is a pretty succinct description of what its composers are trying to achieve: music that is different from any that has gone before. The label is also a broad designation, since experimentation necessarily takes many forms. One composer that worked in experimental music was Henry Cowell, a Californian who had been interested in new sonic possibilities since his mid-teens. Neither of his parents believed in conventional schooling, so his education was extremely haphazard. Nevertheless, after he presented some of his pieces in a recital in 1914, his father took him to the University of California, Berkeley, where Cowell began harmony and counterpoint lessons. One of Cowell’s most popular piano works was The Banshee (1925) (Listening Example 4). He performed it frequently in recitals, where it both scandalized and fascinated his audiences.
The label of “experimental music” is a pretty succinct description of what its composers are trying to achieve: music that is different from any that has gone before. The label is also a broad designation, since experimentation necessarily takes many forms. One composer that worked in experimental music was Henry Cowell, a Californian who had been interested in new sonic possibilities since his mid-teens. Neither of his parents believed in conventional schooling, so his education was extremely haphazard. Nevertheless, after he presented some of his pieces in a recital in 1914, his father took him to the University of California, Berkeley, where Cowell began harmony and counterpoint lessons. One of Cowell’s most popular piano works was The Banshee (1925) (Listening Example 4). He performed it frequently in recitals, where it both scandalized and fascinated his audiences.
Ultramodernism—Not Your Father’s Harmony
The Banshee is a character piece, meaning that it portrays a particular character or mood as suggested by its title. A “banshee” is a spooky mythological creature drawn from Irish folklore; it was believed that when a banshee’s eerie wailing is heard outside a house, someone in the household is marked for death. The banshee comes to guide the soul back to the Inner World, but she finds being in the mortal world painful, and thus the wailing reflects her suffering.
The Banshee is a character piece, meaning that it portrays a particular character or mood as suggested by its title. A “banshee” is a spooky mythological creature drawn from Irish folklore; it was believed that when a banshee’s eerie wailing is heard outside a house, someone in the household is marked for death. The banshee comes to guide the soul back to the Inner World, but she finds being in the mortal world painful, and thus the wailing reflects her suffering.
To perform The Banshee, an assistant sits at the keyboard of the piano and holds down the damper pedal so that within the piano itself, the dampers are shifted away from the strings. Lifting the dampers allows the strings to vibrate freely. The actual music-making takes place with the performer standing inside the crook of the piano (the concave curved side that usually faces an audience). The performer touches the strings directly—strumming them, plucking them, or sliding along their length with the fingertips or fingernails. This approach is called string piano. Listen for the two contrasting sections between the three refrains; these contain the scariest manifestations of the banshee.