Conlon Nancarrow: An Arkansas Original

Author(s): James R. Greeson, Gretchen B. Gearhart and Conlon Nancarrow

Source: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 457-469
Published by: Arkansas Historical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40027830 .
Accessed: 14/06/2014 04:48

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Arkansas Historical Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Arkansas Historical Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Conlon Nancarrow:
An Arkansas Original
JAMES andGRETCHEN
R. GREESON B. GEARHART

KNOWN THROUGHOUT themusicalworldas someof the most significant

andinnovativemusicof thetwentiethcentury,the music of ConlonNancarrow
remainslargelyunheardby the concert-goingpublic.1Nancarrowacquired
general recognition in 1982 when he received a five-year John D. and
CatherineT. MacArthurgrant.But for over fortyyears he lived andworked
in Mexico City on a body of work consisting of over sixty pieces, which
formed his series,Studiesfor Player Piano, (the instrumentfoundin many
homes prior to the widespreadavailabilityof sound recordings)before
emergingfromrelativeisolationthroughrecordingsof his compositions.2
Nancarrow was born in Texarkana,Arkansas,in 1912, the son of a
businessmanwho saved as mayo*of Texarkana between 1927 and 1930.3 He
studied brieflyat CincinnatiCollege Conservatoryof Music and laterspent

Interview by James R. Greeson with introductionand afterword by Gretchen B.

Gearhart.Greesonis associateprofessormusicat the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Gearhartis assistant editor of Arkansas Historical Quarterly.
Conlon Nancarrow, Studies for Player Piano, vols. 3 & 4, essay by Charles
Amirkhanian,notes by James Tenney, CD WER 606166-50, WER 60167-50, Wergo
1988, 1, hereaftercited as Nancarrow, Studies.
Nancarrow, Studies, 35, 1.
'GeorgiaClark,interviewby GretchenGearhart,Fayetteville, Arkansas, October 9,
1994; mayor's office, phone interview by Gretchen Gearhart, Texarkana, Arkansas,
October 10, 1994.

THEARKANSAS HISTORICALQUARTERLY
VOL.LIV,NO.4, WINTER1995

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
458 ARKANSASHISTORICALQUARTERLY

several years in Boston before going to Spain to fight with the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade in 1937.4
After his return to the United States in 1939, he spent some time in New
York City, where he associated with other composers of new music, including
Elliott Carter and Aaron Copland, two of the twentieth century's most
distinguished composers.5 He then decided to leave the States and attempted
to get a passport. But his activities as a self-described rabid radical and his
Spanish experience were on record. His request was refused because he "was
an "undesirable9 something or other. . . . They said, 'You'll never get a
passport again.'"6He moved to Mexico City in 1940, where he still lives. He
became a Mexican citizen in 1956. There he married Annette Stephens, an
American painter. They were later divorced, and in 1972 he married Yoko
Sugiura, a professor of archaeology.7
His move to Mexico had come in the aftermath of the Cardenas regime,
a liberal, progressive period in Mexican history.8 There he associated with
other liberals, including the American poet George Oppen, who had fled the
McCarthy witchhunts, and the painter Juan O'Gorman, who designed
Nancarrow's house and decorated it with murals.9
In 1949 he began his series of Studiesfor Player Piano, the body of work
which brought him to the attention of contemporary music aficionados. The
importance of Nancarrow's work is described by James Tenney:

Twenty-firstcenturyhistorianswill rank Conlon Nancarrow's Studies

for Player Piano with the most innovativeworks of Ives, Schoenberg,
Stravinsky, Webern, Varese, Partch, Cage, Xenakis ... as the most
significant works composed since 1900. . . . They manifest an

4Colc Gagne and Tracy Caras, Soundpieces: Interviews with America Composers
(Metuchen, NJ, and London: Scarecrow Press, 1982), 282-283.
"
Thilip Carisen, The Player Piano Music of Conlon Nancarrow: An Analysis of Selected
Studies,"in ISAM. Monographs: no. 26 (New York: Institute for Studies in American Music,
Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 1988), 2.
6Gagne and Caras, Soundpieces, 284, 287.
7ChariesAmirkhanian, "Conlon Nancarrow," Nancarrow, Studies, 34; Gagne and Caras,
Soundpieces,282.
^CharlesAmirkhanian,'Interview with Composer Conlon Nancarrow," Soundings, book
4 (Spring-Summer 1977): 18-19.
'Amirkhanian, "Conlon Nancarrow," 34.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CONLONNANCARROW 459

incredibly
thorough andcreativerealization
investigation of countless
newpossibilitiesin theareasof rhythm,tempo,texture,polyphonic
andform,allof whichwillprovideexcitingchallengesto
perception,
composers,theorists,andlisteners.10

In a review,JohnRockwellof the New YorkTimeswrotethat"Mr.

Nancarrow standsas a classicexampleof a kindof composerthathasplayed
a majorrolein American music- indeed,thinksome,themajorrole.Thatis
a
theloner-outsider, man who grewupignorant ordefiantorsimplyindifferent
toreceivedtraditions andstruckout,sometimeseccentrically, on his own."11
Still,eventhemostoriginal composerscomefromsomewhere. Nancarrow
was fascinatedby the playerpianowhichwas in the housewhilehe was
growing up.Laterhe toldaninterviewer thateversincehe startedcomposing
he was "dreaming of gettingridof theperformers."12 His familywere"all
greatmusiclovers. . . [His]father hadthesecornyJohnMcCormick songs:
'MotherMachree'andall that."13 A reviewerof a 1986performance of
Nancarrow's compositions remarked that,"Hislove of jazz infuses even his
most complexcreations,whetherin subtleblues-derivedidioms,or in
rhythmic/harmonic ostinatos."14Morespecifically,"Therearemanyexplicit
jazzreferences,ranging from subtleusesof blues notesto thedrivingboogie-
of
woogie Study No. 3."15 Nancarrow beganplayingjazz on trumpetbefore
he left Texarkana and continued performingin thatidiomin Cincinnati and
Boston.16But the most important musicaleventhe remembers is thatof
"hearing 'Sacre'['Le Sacre de Printemps'by IgorStravinsky] the first
for

10James
Tenney, "General Introduction," Nancarrow, Studies, 1. According to Nicolas
Stonimsky(Baker'sBiographical Dictionary of Musicians [New York: Schirmer Books, 1992],
1,866). James Tenney (b. 1934) is a highly influential American pianist, conductor, teacher, and
composer and an authority on Charles Ives and on Nancarrow.
"Rockwell, "Conlon Nancarrow."
"Amirkhanian, "Interview," 15.
"Gagne and Caras, Soundpieces, 292.
l4HighFidelity: Musical America Edition, August 1986, MA22. An ostinato is a musical
figure persistently repeated at the same pitch.
15Carlsen,"The Player Piano Music," 2.
"Gagne and Caras, Soundpieces, 283.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
460 ARKANSASHISTORICALQUARTERLY

time when I was about seventeen.9'16"At that time I'd heard practically no
contemporary music . . . It just opened up a new world to me."17That event
seems to have fixed his destiny as a composer.
Many years later,in 1983, James Greeson,professor of composition at the
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, traveled to Mexico City to interview
Nancarrow. Below are excerpts from that interview.

Greeson:You probablydon'thave your music heard much here in Mexico.

Nancarrow: Not at all. Which suits me because I like the peace and
tranquillity.In otherparts of the world there are all kinds of things being done,
a lot of fuss being made, which is all right. I'm still isolated here. If something
did happen here, it would be more of a nuisance- invasion of privacy you
might say.
Greeson: Was your trip to Europe last year interesting?
Nancarrow: It was very hectic. I was there three weeks. There were two
appearancesin Austria, one in Germany, and one in France. They would play
the tapes, and Ligeti would speak about my music.18
Greeson:It's a funny story isn't it? I guess Ligeti found some of the Arch
recordingsof your music in a bookshop in Paris and just couldn't believe what
he was hearing. Have you heard much of his music?
Nancarrow:At the time he started writing those things about me, I knew
his name, but I'd never heard one single piece of his music, and I thought, I
knew he was famous, but who knows what kind of music he writes. And I
might not be too proud of what he writes . . . Then I heard some of his music
on records, and I was very impressed with it.
Greeson: I hear some similarities. He seems to do a lot of things in his
pieces that you had been doing for a long time. I imagine he was particularly
interested in your music because it bears similarities to his own works.
Nancarrow: I suppose so.
Greeson:Elliott Carterhas said a lot of nice things about your music and
you.

^oger Reynolds, "Conlon Nancarrow: Interviews in Mexico City and San Francisco," in
American Music 2, (Summer 1984), 21.
"Gagne and Caras, Soundpieces, 282.
18GyorgyLigeti is a Hungarian-born Austrian composer and pedagogue.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CONLONNANCARROW 461

Nancarrow:I was a friendof his many years ago, and we got out of touch.
He came to Mexico once and I saw him. I haven't been in touch with him for
at least twenty years.
Greeson: In his First String Quartet, which was a watershed piece for
Carter, he quoted your Rhythmic Study #1. 1 imagine when your piece was
published in 195 1 that Carter studied it and got some ideas.
Nancarrow:It's curious. That New Music Edition of Rhythmic Study #i,
he had it published. I knew nothing about it. He sent them the score.
Greeson: I understand that a similar thing happened with two earlier
pieces of yours published in 1938, when Nicolas Slonimsky sent in the
Toccata and the Prelude and Blues. 19
Nancarrow: In fact, he sent it when I was in Spain. Again, I didn't know
about it until I got back to America.
Greeson: How did you choose Mexico City to move to? I had assumed
that because you spent tirpe in Spain that you learned Spanish there and
thought that you'd come down to Mexico.
Nancarrow: No, I didn't learn any Spanish. It was an American brigade.
I learned to say "good day" or something like that, but I didn't learn any
Spanish.No, I learnedit here in Mexico. Why I came to Mexico? Well, in the
first place I couldn't get a passport. And there were only two places in the
world I could go to without a passport, Canada or Mexico. So I decided
Mexico.
Greeson: Did you study music while you were in Arkansas?
Nancarrow:I took piano lessons with this terrible teacher who soured me
on piano. That'sanotherthing. My wife and I have a son eleven years old, and
she insists on his studyingpiano, and he has no talent at all. Fortunately he has
a nice teacherand a veiy good teacher. My wife is over him with a whip every
day to do an hour of piano. Well, she's Japanese, and I guess it's the Japanese
discipline or something.
Greeson: Did you study anything else in Texarkana?
Nancarrow:I really hated piano lessons, and I was able to get out of that
by taking up trumpet. It so happened that my trumpet teacher was the
trumpeterin the town band. He was an old drunk, but very sympathetic. Very
pleasant, so I liked it. I also conducted an American Legion Band.

19NicolasSlonimsky (1884-1994) was a well-known musicologist best known for his book
Baker'sBiographicalDictionaryof Musicians (New York:SchirmerBooks, 1992).

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
462 ARKANSASHISTORICALQUARTERLY

Greeson: You did play jazz?

Nancarrow: I played a little of everything. In Cincinnati I played in a
German beer hall.
Greeson: When did you leave Texarkana?
Nancarrow:I left Texarkana when I was about fifteen, and then I went to
Cincinnati.When I went to Boston I conducted a WPA orchestra for a while.
That'swhen I discovered I had no talent for conducting. I just didn't have the
personality for it. A conductor has to be a bit of a tyrant.
Greeson: Where did this orchestra play?
Nancarrow: Various parts of the suburbs for little home concerts.
Greeson: How long were you in Boston?
Nancarrow: Four or five years, I guess.
Greeson: Was there anything about Arkansas that you especially
remember?
Nancarrow: It was so long ago. I had an enormous collection of "Little
Blue Books" on every subject, on every conceivable subject. They were five
cents each, the original pocket books. They covered everything from
Shakespeareto Einstein.Every popular magazine carried a full page listing of
titles for these "LittleBlue Bocks." They must have had over a thousand titles,
and I had several hundred.
Greeson: You studied with Slonimsky and Sessions in Boston?20
Nancarrow: More or less. Sessions was the main one. And it was just
counterpoint.
Greeson: It wasn't free composition?
Nancarrow: No. I also studied with Piston.21Piston and Slonimsky were
very vague. They startedtalking about something else and forgot all about the
lesson. I soon drifted into a friendly relationship with Slonimsky. We would
visit once in a while. Sessions was a taskmaster- strict Fux counterpoint from
the beginning.At the same time I would show him my compositions. He'd take
a quick look and say, "That's interesting. Now where is your counterpoint?"22

20RogerSessions (1896-1985) was a notedAmericancomposer.

"WalterPiston(1894-1976) was a respectedAmericancomposer.
^Counterpointdenotes music of two or more lines that sound simultaneously.J. J.
Fux wrote a treatise in 1725, Gradus ad Parnassum, that perpetuated a method of
teaching counterpointaccording to strict rules.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CONLONNANCARROW 463

Greeson:Werethereanyculturesthatinterested you?I wouldassume

African.
Nancarrow: MainlyAfricanandIndian.
Greeson:Forthewaytheyusetime?
Nancarrow: Mainly,yes.
Greeson:Wasthereanywaythatyourstudygaveyousomeideas?
Nancarrow: No, unlesspossiblyunconsciously. Did you ever see the
ShankarBallet?ThisShankar wasthebrotherof thefamousRaviShankar.
Thatwasmyfirstintroduction toIndian music.I sawtheballetandheardtheir
in in
music Boston the 1930sandthatgotmeinterested in Indianmusic.24
Greeson: Wasthemusicyoucomposed duringthe 1930sperformed much
atthattime?
Nancarrow: Never.As faras I know,thefirsttimetheToccataforviolin
andpianowas performed was at a festivalin Californialastyear.I tapeda
player-piano partof theToccata.Theviolinpartis difficultenough,butthe
pianopartis extremely difficultatthespeedthatI wanted.So I punchedit out
atthatspeed,andthiswonderful violinistplayedit alongwiththetape,andhe
did a fantasticjob. Inthefirstplace,it'sa verydifficultviolinpart,butthe
problem is thatthetapejustgoesandyouhaveto go alongwithit, andhe did
it.
Greeson:I was wonderinghow fast it reallywent.It says "as fast as
possible"on thescore.
Nancarrow: Yes, the violinistprovedhe could,but I thinkthe piano
couldn'tbeplayedatthespeedI wanted.Maybea Horowitzcoulddo it, buta
Horowitzwouldn'tgo nearanythinglikethat.25
Greeson: Didit botheryouto hearbadperformances of yourownpieces?
Nancarrow: Thereweren't thatmanyperformances. Of courseit bothered
me.I wrotea Septet,whichwasgivena non-performance inNew York.Ithad
practicallyno to
relation what I hadwritten.The trouble with thatperformance
was that therewas no rehearsalof all sevenmusicianstogether.So at the
performance theynaturallyjustfell apart.

24Ravi Shankar became famous in the 1960s for his performances on the sitar, an
Indian instrument.
Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) was a pianist of prodigious ability.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
464 ARKANSAS
HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY

Greeson: Doyoureallylovethesoundofyourplayerpianos,orwouldyou
be interested in doingthesamesortsof proportional schemeswithdifferent
tonequalities?
Nancarrow: Oh,of course!Infactthepianothingis verylimited,because
it'sjustonetonecolor.Fordoingthingsfororchestra orliveinstruments, the
complications of thataretremendous in coordination.ButI'mjustnotvery
enthusiastic abouttheelectronicsounds.
Greeson:Whenpeoplehearyourmusic,theyalwaysfindyourmusic
exciting,andI thinkit hasa lot to do withthepresenceof thepianosound.
Yourpianoshavesucha strongsound.
Nancarrow: It'sa livesoundAtonetimewhenelectronic musicwasmore
or less gettinggoing,I wasbeginningto regretthatI hadgottenintoplayer
piano.BecauseI thoughtthatthis is thefuture,andI oughtto dropplayer
pianoandstartona newtechnique I knownothingabout.ButI didn't.Butnow
I'mgladI didn'tbecauseI'mnotenthusiastic aboutwhatthey'vedonein the
electronicfield.
Greeson:How do you go about convertinga score into a roll?
Nancarrow: First,I drawoutthetemporal relationshipsontheroll.I put
the on mydrawingboardanddrawouttheproportions I'mgoingto
roll that
use,orthetimesthatI'mgoingto use, andfirstI justdrawallof thatouton
therollwithnonotes.Justtheplacesthattheyaregoingto be. ThenI transfer
whatIVedrawnontherolltothismusicpaper.Of course,beforeI startI have
a fairlygoodideawhatthepiecewillbe like.So thenI havethiswholestack
of musicpaperwithnothingbutproportions, ordivisionsof time,on it. Then
I startcomposingthepiece.
Greeson:Youmeanwritingthenotesin?
Nancarrow: Writingthenotesin forthespecificpiece.Thenof courseI
punchit.
Greeson:Soyoustartoffwiththeproportions ontherollfirstandthenthe
musicpaperandthenbackto therollto punchit.
Nancarrow: Right.ThenafterthatI makewhatyoumightcall a legible
scorethatpeoplecanread.
Greeson:Whenyoufirsthaveanideafora piece,is it somethinglike,"I
wanttowritea piecethatwillhavedifferentpercentages of accelerationsand
ritardsin it?"
Nancarrow: Yes.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CONLONNANCARROW 465

JamesGreeson (left) and Conlon Nancarrowin the composer'sworkroom.

CourtesySpecial CollectionsDivision, Universityof ArkansasLibraries,
Fayetteville.

Greeson:So yourfirst idea is perhapsproportionalandlateryou worry

aboutthe motivesor whateveryou may use.
Nancarrow:Moreor less, except even whenI'mputtingthe proportions
on I havea fairlygood idea of whatI'mgoing to do, but nothingspecific,just
generalideas.
Greeson:Forwhomdo you writeyourpieces, for yourselfonly?
Nancarrow:I suppose there'sno such thing as anyonewritingjust for
himself.IVealwayswrittenwithsomevague- not public- but some otherear
in mindthatwouldhearit.
Greeson:At the sametimeit doesn'tbotheryou,thatat least untilrecently,
notmuchof a publichas heardyourmusic. Althoughit may be overstatingto
say thatyourmusic hasn'tbeen heardmuch.
Nancarrow:No, you'renot overstating.It hasn'tbeen heardmuch.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
466 HISTORICAL
ARKANSAS QUARTERLY

Greeson:Didn'tMerceCunningham do a lot of yourpieces?25

Nancarrow: No,hedidjustoneballetfora fewpieces.Andeventhat,who
knowshow manypeopleheardit?It'sjustbeenveryrecentlythattherehas
beena publicformymusic.
Greeson:Haveyouheardanyof yourearliermusicplayed,piecesyou'd
writtenpriorto theplayerpianopieces?
Nancarrow: TheStringQuartetwaswrittenoverfortyyearsago,andI
heardit forthefirsttimein California whenI went[in 1982].That'sa long
time.Andit'snobigdealanyhow.Anda pieceforsmallorchestra wasplayed
theremoreorless well.ThatwasalsothefirsttimeI hadheardthat.
Greeson:Doesit interestyouto heartheseoldcompositions of yours?
Nancarrow: Notmuch.I feellikeit'sjustanotherworld.
Greeson:DidyouknowanythingabouttheMacArthur grant?Didyou
knowyouwerenominated, ordidyoujustget a letterin themailoneday?
Nancarrow: As a matterof fact,I heardfrommybrother.He calledme
longdistanceandsaidI'dbeennominated, andI almostfell over.
Greeson:Areyoudoinganything inyournewpiecesthatis differentfrom
thingsyou'vedonebefore?
Nancarrow: No, no newideas.Almostallof mymusicis canonic.Quite
a few arestrictcanons,buttheyallhavecanonicpassages.26
Greeson:Roger Reynoldsis interestedin the notion of perceptual
thresholdsof music.27 Do you findthattherearethresholdsin yourown
music- relationships whicharetoo complex,forexample?
Nancarrow: Inmyownmusic?Nothardly,becauseI knowwhatis there.
Greeson:Was it StudyNumber39 whichwas a canonwitha ratioof
60:61?
Nancarrow: You know,someoneaskedme aboutthat,andI gave the
wronganswer.It'snot60 against6 1 in thesenseof a rhythm.It'ssimplythe
rateof speedatwhichonethinggoesagainstthespeedatwhichanothergoes.
In otherwordsthey're justgoingat slightlydifferentspeeds,andonefinally
catchesup.Mostof mythingsaresomethingagainstsomethingelse.Butthis

"Merce Cunningham(b. 1919) is an American choreographer.

A canonis a compositionin strictcounterpoint.One melodic strandis imitated, note
for note and in its entirety, in all others. A round is a type of canon.
Roger Reynolds (b. 1934) is an American composer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in
1989.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 CONLONNANCARROW 467

The composer'sworkroom.CourtesySpecial CollectionsDivision, Universityof

ArkansasLibraries,Fayetteville.

is not.It'sa rateof speedagainstanother rateof speed.

Greeson:Haveyoulostinterestin thepiecesforthetwopianos?
Nancarrow: No, I'mnotthrowingthemaway.Infact,fortunately, all of
thosepiecesnowarerecorded. Not thewayI wouldlikethem,butrecorded.
SoI forgetaboutthem,andnowI'montopiecesforjustonepiano.Although
I'mthinkingof thepossibilityof doinga thingfortwopianosandgettinga
decenttaperecorder anddoingit inshortsections.Andgettingit exactlyright.
Keeprecording ituntilit isjustright.Thentakeanothersectionandgo on that
way throughthewholepiece.Someonewho'sbeenworkingwithcomputer
controlled pianoandsynchronization wrotemefromAustralia.According to
himit'spossibleto synchronize up to onehundred I
pianosperfectly. havethe
feelingthatatmyageto startona newtechnique, whichI knownothingabout
... If it hadbeenthirtyyearsago,I mighthavelikedtheidea.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
468 ARKANSAS
HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY

Greeson:Do you advocatepeoplerealizingyourplayerpianopieceson

conventional instruments?
Nancarrow: It'scurious.My managerhas gottenseveralrequestsfrom
to
people arrange something fororchestra.
ThecomposerWuorinen wasatthe
festivalin California. Hewantedto arrange Study Number 41 fororchestra.
thinkit wouldbe possiblebecauseit'sso complex.ButI methimand
I didn't
discussedit withhim.Thetalkdidn'tgo so well.28
Greeson:Youdidsomepiecesforprepared piano,didn'tyou?
Nancarrow: I didone.Thathastobe on a grandpiano,becausethingsfall
out if you putthemin anupright.A longtimeago I got a babygrandand
preparedit anddida piecefor it. AndI hadso muchtrouble,not withthe
preparation, butthemechanism. Ina babygrandtheplayermechanism is all
and to at
underneath, get anything very is I
difficult. fed
finallygot up with it
andsold it. ButbeforeI soldit, I madea recording of thatonepiece,which
ArchRecords has.It'snota goodrecording,butatleastit'sonthere.Theyalso
havea tapeI did.YearsagowhentapefirstcameoutI dida piecefortape- a
veryprimitive thing.I tooka bunchof drumsandrecorded thesoundof each
drumon tapeandthenmadecopiesof eachsound- many,manycopiesand
clippedthemoff. ThenI tooktheselittlepiecesof tape andpastedthem
together,madea rhythmoutof them.Of courseit'sjustoneline.As I sayit's
extremelyprimitive.It'sabouta minuteor two of music.Oh,theworkthat
took.It'sa curiosity.
Greeson:Thenotionof symmetryseemsimportant to you. Areyou a
believerin symmetry?
Nancarrow: I guessI ama believerin symmetry. As youknowI'ma great
admirerof Bach,whichcertainlyis the ultimatein symmetry.Actually
Stravinsky, too.
Greeson: Whatstudyareyouworkingon now?
Nancarrow: I'monNumber 46 now.Ijustrecently finishedNumber45- a
longpiece,abouttwentyminutes,foronepiano.
In the twelveyears since this interviewtook place,Nancarrowhas
composedforconventionalinstruments withincreasing Giventhe
frequency.
natureof his Studiesfor Player Piano, he mightbe expectedto place

Charles Wuorinen(b. 1938) is an American composer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in

1970.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ARROW
CONLONNANC 469

impossibledemandson humanperformers.Ursula Oppens,for whom

Nancarrowwrote Two Canonsfor Ursula, allays these concerns.She
thepieceas"wonderful
describes - verypianistic"andhasplayedit at almost
everyrecitalsincereceivingit, perhapsfiftyor sixtytimes.30
Otherrecentcompositions byNancarrow include:PieceNo. 2for Small
Orchestra (1986), Triofor Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano (1991), and Third
String Quartet(1988),all of whichhavebeenperformed by Continuum, a
NewYorkCitycontemporary musicensemble.31
A reviewof a 1986concert of Nancarrow's musicby Continuum laudsthe
music's"humanity. Brimming withgoodcheer,filledwithalmostmaniacal
energy,hiswork is without
accessible evercompromising its structuralcore."32
In spiteof his longabsencefromArkansas, Nancarrow is, accordingto
UrsulaOppens, "stillverymuch of this partof theworld."33 His Arkansas
boyhoodsurelyis anelementof theamalgamof influenceswhichproduced
thisoriginalmusicalgenius*.

'"UrsulaOppens, interview by GretchenGearhart,Fayetteville, Arkansas, October

8, 1994.
3lNew Yorker,December 9, 1991, 113.
*High Fidelity:Musical America Edition, August 1986, MA22.
Oppens interview.

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.128 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:48:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions