Conlon Nancarrow and the Technological Sublime

By Eric Drott

It is largely acknowledged that Henry Cowell's book New Musical Resources exercised a profound influence on Conlon Nancarrow. Cowell's musings on polyrhythm and polymeter clearly inspired Nancarrow, as did his suggestions on how to realize such complex rhythmic formations. Cowell notes that "[s]ome of the rhythms developed through the present acoustical investigation could not be played by any living performer; but these highly engrossing rhythmical complexes could easily be cut on a player piano roll." Although this recourse to the player piano, as a means of surpassing the limitations of performers, may appear emblematic of modernism's fetishistic faith in technology, Cowell does register reservations concerning the musical capabilities of the instrument. Far better than a player piano would be an instrument that could not only perform such complicated rhythms, but that would nevertheless "be controlled by hand and would therefore not be over-mechanical." Later on he writes that on such an instrument, "[b]y playing the keys with the fingers, the human element of personal expression might be retained if desired." Cowell here expresses a momentary, but significant, misgiving. Despite his attraction to the player piano, his comments betray a fear of what might be lost in composing for this instrument. The precision of the player piano is gained at the expense of a more immediate and tangible sense of physical control. (Cowell assumes, however, that this problem also can find a technological solution.) Or, to put it somewhat differently, the liberation from the constraint of performance imposes a different constraint, since the very means of this liberation is allegedly unable to convey the expressive dimension of music effectively.