KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Speaking of Music: Conlon Nancarrow (1984), 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

SOM.1984.02.02.A

Program Series

Speaking of Music

Program Length

101 min

Part

1 of 2

Dates

1985-08-12 | broadcast
| 1984-02-02 | created

Description

Recorded on February 2, 1984 as part of the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Speaking of Music series Charles Amirkhanian interviews composer Conlon Nancarrow before a live audience. The program begins with a short slide show narrated by Eva Soltes, about life and work of Conlon Nancarrow. Charles Amirkhanian then talks with the composer about his music. Conlon Nancarrow has been recognized as one of the most fascinating 20th century composers in the world. An expatriate American who lived in Mexico City, Nancarrow composed almost exclusively for the player piano. His incredibly complex scores are not playable by human hands, but through his laborious hand-punched piano rolls, the music is dazzling in its speed and complexity. In this program Nancarrow discussed the oppressive political atmosphere that led him to leave the United States, the reasons he took up his unique composing style, and the lengthy process of producing a composition. (from KPFA Folio)

Genres

Mechanical music
New music

Musical Selections

Study No. 25 (5:38) -- Study No. 12 (4:18)

Subjects

New music
Player piano music
Player piano

Related places

San Francisco (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Soltes, Eva
Amirkhanian, Charles
Nancarrow, Conlon, 1912-1997
Cage, John