Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Foreword: “The Glowing of Such Fire”—A Tribute to Ralph Kirkpatrick
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One Family
- Part Two Friends, Colleagues, and Other Correspondence
- 2 Nadia Boulanger
- 3 Alexander Mackay-Smith
- 4 Wanda Landowska
- 5 John Challis
- 6 Serge Koussevitzky
- 7 Oliver Strunk
- 8 Roger Sessions
- 9 Harold Spivacke
- 10 Steinway & Sons
- 11 New York Times
- 12 Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
- 13 John Kirkpatrick
- 14 Alexander Schneider
- 15 Otto Luening
- 16 Donald Boalch
- 17 John Hamilton
- 18 Thornton Wilder
- 19 Lincoln Kirstein
- 20 Arthur Mendel
- 21 Edward Steuremann
- 22 Frank Martin
- 23 Olin Downes
- 24 Albert Fuller
- 25 Elliott Carter
- 26 Quincy Porter
- 27 Vincent Persichetti
- 28 Henry Cowell
- 29 Mel Powell
- 30 Bengt Hambraeus
- 31 Alec Hodson
- 32 Paul Fromm
- 33 Wolfgang Zuckermann
- 34 Kenneth Gilbert
- 35 Mr. and Mrs. George Young
- 36 Colin Tilney
- 37 Oliver Daniel
- 38 Eliot Fisk
- 39 Wilton Dillon
- 40 William Dowd
- 41 Meredith Kirkpatrick
- Afterword: Lessons with Kirkpatrick
- Appendixes
28 - Henry Cowell
from Part Two - Friends, Colleagues, and Other Correspondence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Foreword: “The Glowing of Such Fire”—A Tribute to Ralph Kirkpatrick
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One Family
- Part Two Friends, Colleagues, and Other Correspondence
- 2 Nadia Boulanger
- 3 Alexander Mackay-Smith
- 4 Wanda Landowska
- 5 John Challis
- 6 Serge Koussevitzky
- 7 Oliver Strunk
- 8 Roger Sessions
- 9 Harold Spivacke
- 10 Steinway & Sons
- 11 New York Times
- 12 Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
- 13 John Kirkpatrick
- 14 Alexander Schneider
- 15 Otto Luening
- 16 Donald Boalch
- 17 John Hamilton
- 18 Thornton Wilder
- 19 Lincoln Kirstein
- 20 Arthur Mendel
- 21 Edward Steuremann
- 22 Frank Martin
- 23 Olin Downes
- 24 Albert Fuller
- 25 Elliott Carter
- 26 Quincy Porter
- 27 Vincent Persichetti
- 28 Henry Cowell
- 29 Mel Powell
- 30 Bengt Hambraeus
- 31 Alec Hodson
- 32 Paul Fromm
- 33 Wolfgang Zuckermann
- 34 Kenneth Gilbert
- 35 Mr. and Mrs. George Young
- 36 Colin Tilney
- 37 Oliver Daniel
- 38 Eliot Fisk
- 39 Wilton Dillon
- 40 William Dowd
- 41 Meredith Kirkpatrick
- Afterword: Lessons with Kirkpatrick
- Appendixes
Summary
Henry Cowell (1897–1965) was an American composer, pianist, teacher, and writer. He was an influential figure among avant-garde composers and was part of the ultra-modernist movement. He founded the New Music Society of California in 1925 and led a group of composers in founding the Pan-American Association of Composers in 1928. He established the quarterly publication New Music in 1927, which was notable for publishing many new scores, including works by Charles Ives. He taught at the New School for Social Research in New York and also taught privately. His students included George Gershwin, Lou Harrison, and John Cage.
July 17, 1960
Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick:
I am glad to hear from you and hasten to answer, as I have only now received your note.
I should like very much to write a harpsichord solo, which I have never done, and I should like to write it as you wish it, since (along with the rest of the world) I find you to be the best harpsichordist. I have several commitments and could not write a longer work within the time limit, but I assume you would not wish this anyway.
Could we talk about what you would like? I am in New York Monday through Friday, to teach in Columbia Summer Session… .
With best greetings,
Sincerely,
Henry Cowell
August 11, 1960
Dear Ralph:
I have completed the work for harpsichord for you, of which you saw some sketches. A copy is being sent you under separate cover. It is called (can change if desired) Set of Four, subtitled Rondo, Ostinato, Chorale, Fugue and Resume. It turns out to be a longer work, 15:40 about, and I hope this will not be too long for your plans. It combines old and new sorts of materials in what I hope to be a real union. I am submitting it to Associated Music Publishers, with whom I have a contract, but shall not permit them to do it until I hear your suggestions. I hope you will give them freely and frankly. I am not at all unwilling to cut out or change things, large or small, if they aren't right.
Hearty greetings,
Sincerely,
Henry
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ralph KirkpatrickLetters of the American Harpsichordist and Scholar, pp. 126 - 127Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2014