Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was perhaps the first genuine World Music composer, incorporating themes and modalities of other ethnic traditions into his own unique and influential repertoire. Of even greater importance, he was almost certainly the first World Music critic, devoting much of his professional life to investigating musical traditions around the globe and educating new generations of composers and audiences. Through his journal, New Music Quarterly, his concert promotions, and his popular WBAI (New York) radio broadcasts, he explored the possibilities of music, from the groundbreaking works of Charles Ives, Carl Ruggles, and Edgar Var?se, to the original blues of Leadbelly, to the Indonesian gamelan and beyond. A revolutionary thinker, his influence was intense and immediate. Among his students may be counted an impressive group of influential mid-20th century composers-including John Cage, Lou Harrison, Burt Bacharach, and even George Gershwin-all of whom in one way or another helped to carry on the movement established by Cowell. In his preface, Kyle Gann notes that Cowell's criticism is "more relevant today than it has ever been before," but also notes that "there has been remarkably little attempt so far to assess Cowell as a writer and theorist." This volume of selected writings by Henry Cowell-the first ever to be published- offers insight into the theories of this musical thinker. It includes portions of his legendary unpublished book, The Nature of Melody, as well as essays on Stravinsky, Thomson, Partch, Antheil, Bart?k, Var?se, Cage, Charles Seeger; articles a variety of folk musical traditions, music for dance and film, the use of music as propaganda; a discussion about creative notation; and a study of the nature of noise. Following Professor Gann's preface there is an introductory essay by the editor, the late Dick Higgins, which offers context and background information.

Table of Contents:
Preface by Kyle Gann 7 Introduction by Dick Higgins 13 PART ONE: HC in Person Playing Concerts in Moscow 35 Music Is My Weapon 47 PART TWO: Contemporaries Charles Ives 51 Charles Seeger 72 Edgar Var?se 77 John J. Becker 85 Amadeo Roldan and Alejandro Caturla 91 Carl Ruggles 93 Joseph Schillinger 99 Nicholas Slonimsky 105 Colin McPhee 108 Virgil Thomson 111 Harry Partch 117 Roger Sessions 119 Lou Harrison 127 John Cage 132 Ferruccio Busoni 144 Igor Stravinsky 146 George Antheil 150 Bela Bart?k 155 PART THREE: music of the World's Peoples The ScientiWc Approach to Non-European Music 163 Folk Music 170 Music of the World's Peoples 176 The World's Vocal Arts 182 Music of Indonesia 186 Music of the Orient 188 PART FOUR: HC on Works by HC Persian Set 197 Quartet Romantic and Quartet Euphemetric 200 United Quartet 207 PART FIVE: Music and Other Arts Vocal Innovators of Central Europe 211 The League's Evening of Films 215 How Relate Music and Dance? 218 Relating Music and Concert Dance 223 New Sounds in Music for the Dance 232 PART SIX: Musical Craft Tonal Therapy 237 The Process of Musical Creation 240 Our Inadequate Notation 244 The Joys of Noise 249 Music of and for the Records 253 The Nature of Melody 257 PART SEVEN: Theory and Music History Harmonic Development in Music 271 The Impasse of Modern Music 289 Towards Neo-Primitivism 299 Shaping Music for Total War 304 On Programming American Music 308 A Composer's World 311 selected bibliography 321 discography 327 index 339 credits and acknowledgments 343 publisher's colophon 346