String piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell to collectively describe those pianistic techniques in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, rather than by striking of the piano's keys. Henry Cowell (March 11, 1897 - December 10, 1965) was an American composer and teacher. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ...

Cover of Henry Cowell: Piano Music, recorded in 1963, with Cowell demonstrating the longitudinal sweeping technique

String piano compositions can involve a wide range of techniques. Among those employed by Cowell, the first major proponent of the approach, are:

• plucking (pizzicato)
• flicking back and forth across a string with a fingernail
• sweeping chromatically across the strings with the fingers
• sweeping across the strings with the flat of the hand (producing a tone cluster)
• sweeping along one or more strings with the flesh of the finger(s)
• scraping along one or more strings with the fingernail(s)

Strings may also be pressed with the fingers of one hand while being played by the other to produce different pitches. These sounding techniques may be combined with direct muting of the strings with devices similar to those used to mute violins. In string piano pieces that call for the performer to sit at the keyboard, the keys may be depressed and held down silently with one hand to create chords, including tone clusters, that are played by the other on the strings; use of the sustain and soft pedals offer additional variations to string piano playing. For string piano pieces in which the performer stands alongside the instrument without addressing the keyboard, the pedals of the piano (and even, silently, the keys) may also be employed with the help of an assistant or a deadweight. Cowell also wrote passages for techniques involving simultaneous manipulation of the strings—sliding along one or more with the fingers or a metal object—and keyboard sounding in order to produce glissando effects. Pizzicato is a method of playing an orchestral string instrument. ... The chromatic scale is any musical scale that contains more than one consecutive half-step (in other words two adjacent pairs of scale degrees or members which are separated by a semitone). ... A tone cluster, in music and in Western tuning, is a chord or simultaneity comprised of consecutive tones separated chromatically. ... In music, pitch is the perception of the frequency of a note. ... A mute is a device which alters the timbre or reduces the volume of a musical instrument. ... In music and music theory, a chord (from the middle English cord, short for accord) is three or more different notes or pitches sounding simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously, over a period of time. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... Glissando (plural: glissandi) is a musical term that refers to either a continuous sliding from one pitch to another (a true glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one melodic note to another (an effective glissando). ...

Cowell's first composition to employ string piano techniques was the solo Piece for Piano with Strings (1923). Like A Composition (1925), for piano and string quartet, it combines traditional keyboard sounding with direct string playing. Aeolian Harp (ca. 1923) is Cowell's first composition exclusively for string piano—while keys are silently held down, as described above, all the sounding is done by direct address of the strings. Among his other works purely for string piano are The Banshee (ca. 1925) and Sinister Resonance (ca. 1930). How Old Is Song? (1930–31) is for voice and string piano (the accompaniment is adapted from Aeolian Harp). John Cage, a student of Cowell's, was inspired by the string piano concept to pursue his explorations of the prepared piano. John Cage John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American experimental music composer and writer. ... A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects (preparations) between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers. ...

Sources

• Hicks, Michael (2002). Henry Cowell, Bohemian. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
• Nicholls, David (1990). American Experimental Music 1890–1940. Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press (see pp. 159–66).

Selected recordings

• Henry Cowell: Piano Music (Smithsonian Folkways 40801)—includes The Banshee and (linked on one track) Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance, performed by Henry Cowell (album pictured in article)
• New Music: Piano Compositions by Henry Cowell (New Albion 103)—includes The Banshee, performed by Chris Brown, and Aeolian Harp, performed by Sorrel Hays
• Songs of Henry Cowell (Albany–Troy 240)—includes How Old Is Song?, performed by Mary Ann Hart–mezzo-soprano, Jeanne Golan–pianist

Listening

• Art of the States: Henry Cowell six works by the composer, including Aeolian Harp