Lou Harrison

Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 - February 2, 2003) was an American composer. He was a student of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg, and Pak Cokro.

Biography

Harrison was born in Portland, Oregon, but moved with his family to a number of locations around the San Francisco Bay area as a child. The diverse music which he was to exposed to there, including Cantonese opera, Native American music, Mexican music and jazz as well as classical music, was to have a major influence on him. He also heard recordings of Indonesian music early in life.

Related Topics:
Portland, Oregon - San Francisco Bay - Cantonese opera - Native American music - Mexican music - Jazz - Classical music - Indonesian music

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harrison took Henry Cowell's "Music of the Peoples of the World" course, and also studied counterpoint and composition with him. He later went to the University of California at Los Angeles to work at the dance department as a dancer and accompanist. While there, he took lessons from Arnold Schoenberg which led to an interest in Schoenberg's twelve tone technique. The pieces he was writing at this time, however, were largely percussive works using unconventional materials, such as car brake drums, as musical instruments. These pieces were similar to those being written by John Cage around the same time, and the two sometimes worked together.

Related Topics:
Henry Cowell - Counterpoint - Composition - University of California at Los Angeles - Dance - Arnold Schoenberg - Twelve tone technique - Percussive - Musical instruments - John Cage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1943, Harrison moved to New York City where he worked as a music critic for the Herald Tribune. While there he met Charles Ives, became his friend, and did a good deal in bringing him to the attention of the musical world, as he had largely been ignored up to that point. He prepared and conducted the premiere of Ives' Symphony No. 3, and in return received help from Ives financially. When Ives won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for that piece, he gave half of the money to Harrison. Harrison also edited a large number of Ives' pieces, receiving compensation often in excess of what he billed (Miller and Lieberman 1998).

Related Topics:
New York City - Herald Tribune - Charles Ives - Pulitzer Prize for Music

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As well as Ives, Harrison supported and promoted the music of other unconventional American composers, including Edgar Varèse and Carl Ruggles. Later during his time in New York, Harrison taught at Black Mountain College. In 1947, he suffered a nervous breakdown, and moved back to California.

Related Topics:
Edgar Varèse - Carl Ruggles - Black Mountain College - Nervous breakdown - California

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harrison's style began to change, showing the influence of gamelan music more clearly if only in timbre, "It was the sound itself that attracted me. In New York, when I changed gears out of twelve tonalism, I explored this timbre. The gamelan movements in my Suite for Violing, Piano, and Small Orchestra are aural imitations of the generalized sounds of gamelan." (ibid, p.160) Virgil Thomson (with whom Harrison also studied) gave him a copy of Harry Partch's book on musical tuning, Genesis of a Music, which prompted Harrison to start writing music in just intonation. He did not abandon equal temperament altogether, but often expressed a desire to do so. One of his most often quoted comments on this is "I'd long thought that I would love a time when musicians were numerate as well as literate. I'd love to be a conductor and say, 'Now, cellos, you gave me 10/9 there, please give me a 9/8 instead,' I'd love to get that!", referring to the frequency ratios used in just intonation.

Related Topics:
Gamelan - Timbre - Virgil Thomson - Harry Partch - Musical tuning - Just intonation - Equal temperament

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although much influenced by Asian music, Harrison did not visit the continent until a 1961 trip to Japan and Korea and a 1962 trip to Taiwan (ibid, p.141). When he returned, he began to set about establishing gamelan orchestras in the United States, and constructed gamelan-type instruments tuned to just pentatonic scales from unusual materials such as tin cans and aluminium furniture tubing. He was helped in the construction of these by his partner, William Colvig. He did not abandon traditional classical instruments, however, placing them alongside his constructed instruments on a number of occasions.

Related Topics:
Asia - Aluminium - William Colvig

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like many other 20th century composers, Harrison found it hard to support himself with his music, and took a number of other jobs to earn a living, including record salesman, florist, animal nurse, and forestry firefighter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harrison was outspoken about his political views, such as his pacifism, and the fact that he was gay. He was also politically active and informed, including knowledge of gay history. He wrote many pieces with political texts or titles, writing, for instance, Homage to Pacifica for the opening of the Berkley Headquarters of the Pacifica Foundation, and accepting commissions from the Portland Gay Men's Chorus (1988 and 1985) and by the Seattle Gay Men's Chorus to arrange (1987) his Strict Songs, originally for eight baritones, for "a chorus of 120 male singing enthusiasts. Some of them good; some not so good. But the number is so fabulous" (ibid, p.98). Lawrence Mass (ibid, p.190) describes:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:With Lou Harrison...being gay is something affirmative. He's proud to be a gay composer and interested in talking about what that might mean. He doesn't feel threatened that this means he won't be thought of as an American composer who is also great and timeless and universal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Janice Giteck (ibid, p.194) describes Harrison as:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:unabashedly androgynous in his way of approaching creativity. He has a vital connection to the feminine as well as to the masculine. The female part is apparent in the sense of beingness. But at the same time, Lou is very male, too, ferociously active and assertive, rhythmic, pulsing, and aggressive.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harrison lived for many years with Colvig in Aptos, California, though he was long planning a straw-bale house in still rural desert. He died in Lafayette, Indiana from a heart attack while on his way to a festival of his music at Ohio State University.

Related Topics:
Aptos, California - Lafayette, Indiana - Heart attack - Ohio State University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~