Morning Concert host Charles Amirkhanian interviews Conlon Nancarrow by telephone from his home in Mexico City. 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, recorded in 1991, the two reminisce about time spent together in Mexico, and movements in Mexican politics. Nancarrow shares how he discovered Indian classical music. Amirkhanian remarks on the innovations, technical details, and challenging performance aspects of Nancarrow’s work. The program features brief excerpts from “Piece No. 2” for small orchestra, and “Study No. 25”, one of Nancarrow’s many compositions for solo player piano. |
