Nancarrow and the Player Piano
From: Helen Borten
Series: A Sense of Place: Third Season
Length: 29:31
- Playing
- Nancarrow and the Player Piano
- From
- Helen Borten
A story that begins in Tin Pan Alley, with the piano rolls of Jelly Roll Morton, George Gershwin and others,and describes how Conlon Nancarrow later transformed an anachronistic gadget, the player piano, into a vehicle for his genius. The life of this American original was just as unconventional as his music. A radical who fought in
Spain in the 1930s, shunned the limelight and became an expatriate in Mexico, it was only through the efforts of a group of American composers that the body of work he was creating in an isolated studio became known to the rest of the world. This program not only makes generous use of his electrifying piano rolls but contains exclusive (and very touching) interviews with his widow and son in Mexico. Commentary is also provided by composers and other musical professionals which helps the listener to understand what he/she is hearing.
More from Helen Borten
Convicting Chevie Kehoe
(59:26)
From: Helen Borten
A new inquiry into a notorious murder case that asks: Were the wrong men convicted of this crime?
Skywalkers of Akwesane
(29:20)
From: Helen Borten
How the dangerous skill of high steel became a rite of passage for a Mohawk tribe.
Georgia Market Bulletin
(28:59)
From: Helen Borten
A chronicle of rural life in Georgia unfolds between the lines of a farmers' newspaper.
Laugh Tracks Part One and Part Two
(29:27)
From: Helen Borten
Two parts, each 28:58 minutes. A one-hour celebration of ethnic humor.
Stranger in Paradise
(29:25)
From: Helen Borten
The strange life and haunting work of outside artist Achilles Rizzoli.
Love and War
(28:56)
From: Helen Borten
Professional soldiers in Fort Benning, Georgia talk of the challenges facing themselves and their families as they prepare to go to war. Produced in 2002 as these soldiers ...
Fly Fishing in Montana
(30:01)
From: Helen Borten
An ancient pastime explored in the lives, lore and literature of anglers.
The Silent Generation: From Saipan to Tokyo
(58:57)
From: Helen Borten
The final year of World War II in the Pacific, told by men who came back and kept silent about the harrowing ordeal that changed their lives.
House of the Lord
(29:33)
From: Helen Borten
The history of a black church on an antebellum plantation and how it was saved from destruction.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
A story that begins in Tin Pan Alley, with the piano rolls of Jelly Roll Morton, George Gershwin and others,and describes how Conlon Nancarrow later transformed an anachronistic gadget, the player piano, into a vehicle for his genius. The life of this American original was just as unconventional as his music. A radical who fought in Spain in the 1930s, shunned the limelight and became an expatriate in Mexico, it was only through the efforts of a group of American composers that the body of work he was creating in an isolated studio became known to the rest of the world. This program not only makes generous use of his electrifying piano rolls but contains exclusive (and very touching) interviews with his widow and son in Mexico. Commentary is also provided by composers and other musical professionals which helps the listener to understand what he/she is hearing.
Broadcast History
Distributed by PRI in 2004 as part of the Third Season of A Sense of Place.
Of 1 purchasers of this piece...
- 1 also bought:Laughing without an Accent (18:02)
- 1 also bought:Wisdom vs. Test (09:16)
- 1 also bought:Forget Cinderella (03:05)
- 1 also bought:
Old Together (02:37) - 1 also bought:
The Pol Walk (03:59)
