Profile: Lou Harrison

This week we're going to look at the music of Lou Harrison.

Harrison was a student of the music of the world. He studied a great deal of musical traditions across space and time, particularly Asian and Indonesian music. He was equally versed in what we would call 'classical music,' from Gregorian Chant up to approaches in the 20th century. In the early 1970s, he prepared a book, his Music Primer, a mélange of musical knowledge he'd picked up over decades of gathering. He freely combines any and all musical traditions; his music is ever melodious and has a sense of innocence and spirit.

In the realm of percussion, he is generally known for two reasons: One, his association with John Cage and his prolific output of percussion music in the 30s and 40s with/for Cage's ensemble; and two, his own take on gamelan music later in his career, going so far as to build his own gamelan.

Here are two of Harrison's distinct percussion works:

Suite for percussion quintet in three parts (1940)

  • Ensemble 0 performs Suite

  • Part I: Tutti, Part II: Woodblock solo, Part III: Tutti

  • Notice how each of the players has a setup of 'like' instruments. This homogenous sound naturally gives way to a melodic sound. This piece, in particular the first movement, is very much like gamelan music but with found instruments.

Solo to Anthony Cirone for tenor bells (1972)

  • Joseph Gramley performs Solo to Anthony Cirone

  • This is an example of the type of gamelan instrument that Harrison built himself, in approximation of the traditional Indonesian gamelan but with readily available materials. Again, notice how melodic percussion can be when you are dealing with a homogenous group of instruments.

And here are a couple more bonus pieces - some of my favorite Harrison:

Now let's try an activity: Harrison "Chance a Choice"