The Tides of Manaunaun
Encyclopedia
The Tides of Manaunaun is a short piano
piece by American composer Henry Cowell
(1897–1965). It was composed in 1917
, originally serving as a prelude to a theatrical production, The Building of Banba. The Tides of Manaunaun is the best known of Cowell's many tone cluster
pieces.
poems by the theosophist
John Osborne Varian
. The Building of Banba has been described by some scholars as a "pageant" or "play," and by Cowell himself (more than fifty years later) as an "opera." The production was staged in the summer of 1917 at a convention of the theosophical community of Halcyon
in coastal San Luis Obispo County, California; Varian was a leader of the group, to which he had introduced Cowell. Cowell would later claim that The Tides of Manaunaun had been composed in 1912, or even earlier.
The work is the most famous and widely played of Cowell's tone cluster
pieces, which he performed during tours of North America and Europe from the early 1920s through the mid-1930s. A performance of Cowell's so inspired Béla Bartók
that the great Hungarian composer sought Cowell's permission to use tone clusters in his own work. Bartók would feature them in his Piano Sonata (1926) and suite Out of Doors (1926), his first significant works after three years of little composition.
Other early pieces of Cowell's featuring tone clusters include the atonal, dissonant Dynamic Motion (1916) and its five "encores"—What's This? (1917), Amiable Conversation (1917), Advertisement (1917), Antinomy (1917, rev. 1959; frequently misspelled "Antimony"), and Time Table (1917). In The Tides of Manaunaun the clusters resound majestically and then slowly subside, conveying not dissonance but transcendent mystery. As Cowell describes on the final, narrative track of the Folkways album on which his last piano recordings appear,
During the first two decades of his compositional career, Cowell continued often to reference Irish mythology in the titles of his piano pieces. The Harp of Life (1924), Cowell said, "is another in the suite based on the early Irish mythological opera," as, he explained, were The Voice of Lir (1920) and The Trumpet of Angus Og (1918–24). Additional mythic traditions are referenced by The Hero Sun (1922), The Banshee (1925), and The Leprechaun (1928). Cowell also wrote songs of a similarly mythological character, including Angus Og (The Spirit of Youth) (1917) and Manaunaun's Birthday (1924).
. Edwin Hughes played it for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, and Percy Grainger
performed it frequently. (In 1940, Grainger would come to Cowell's aid by hiring him as an assistant when Cowell was paroled after serving four years in prison on a "morals" charge.) Under the name Deep Tides, Leopold Stokowski
orchestrated The Tides of Manaunaun as the first of four Tales of Our Countryside (aka Four Irish Tales), which he recorded in 1941. Cowell himself would record the original version at least twice—for Pleyel piano roll in the 1920s and for Folkways in the 1960s. It has been most recently recorded by Steffen Schleiermacher (1993, rel. 1994), Sorrel Hays (1997, rel. 1999), and Stefan Litwin (1999).
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
piece by American composer Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
(1897–1965). It was composed in 1917
1917 in music
-Events:* May 12 - Béla Bartók's ballet The Wooden Prince is premiered in Budapest* First Jazz recordings made by the Original Dixieland Jass Band* First African American jazz recordings made by Wilber Sweatman's Band* Eddie Cantor makes his first recordings...
, originally serving as a prelude to a theatrical production, The Building of Banba. The Tides of Manaunaun is the best known of Cowell's many tone cluster
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
pieces.
Background
The Building of Banba, for which The Tides of Manaunuan was composed, was based on Irish mythologicalIrish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
poems by the theosophist
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
John Osborne Varian
John Osborne Varian
John Osborne Varian was an Irish-American poet and amateur musician who was one of the early members of the Temple of the People and a leader within the theosophist utopian community of Halcyon, California. Two of his sons, Russell and Sigurd Varian, became notable inventors and went on to found...
. The Building of Banba has been described by some scholars as a "pageant" or "play," and by Cowell himself (more than fifty years later) as an "opera." The production was staged in the summer of 1917 at a convention of the theosophical community of Halcyon
Halcyon, California
Halcyon, California is an unincorporated community of approximately 125 acres in San Luis Obispo County, California, located just beyond the southern border of the city of Arroyo Grande...
in coastal San Luis Obispo County, California; Varian was a leader of the group, to which he had introduced Cowell. Cowell would later claim that The Tides of Manaunaun had been composed in 1912, or even earlier.
The work is the most famous and widely played of Cowell's tone cluster
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
pieces, which he performed during tours of North America and Europe from the early 1920s through the mid-1930s. A performance of Cowell's so inspired Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
that the great Hungarian composer sought Cowell's permission to use tone clusters in his own work. Bartók would feature them in his Piano Sonata (1926) and suite Out of Doors (1926), his first significant works after three years of little composition.
Other early pieces of Cowell's featuring tone clusters include the atonal, dissonant Dynamic Motion (1916) and its five "encores"—What's This? (1917), Amiable Conversation (1917), Advertisement (1917), Antinomy (1917, rev. 1959; frequently misspelled "Antimony"), and Time Table (1917). In The Tides of Manaunaun the clusters resound majestically and then slowly subside, conveying not dissonance but transcendent mystery. As Cowell describes on the final, narrative track of the Folkways album on which his last piano recordings appear,
In Irish mythology, Manaunaun was the god of motion and of the waves of the sea. And according to the mythology, at the time when the universe was being built, Manaunaun swayed all of the materials out of which the universe was being built with fine particles which were distributed everywhere through cosmos. And he kept these moving in rhythmical tides so that they should remain fresh when the time came for their use in the building of the universe.
During the first two decades of his compositional career, Cowell continued often to reference Irish mythology in the titles of his piano pieces. The Harp of Life (1924), Cowell said, "is another in the suite based on the early Irish mythological opera," as, he explained, were The Voice of Lir (1920) and The Trumpet of Angus Og (1918–24). Additional mythic traditions are referenced by The Hero Sun (1922), The Banshee (1925), and The Leprechaun (1928). Cowell also wrote songs of a similarly mythological character, including Angus Og (The Spirit of Youth) (1917) and Manaunaun's Birthday (1924).
Recordings
The Tides of Manaunaun was first recorded around 1925 by Margaret Nikoloric for piano rollPiano roll
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...
. Edwin Hughes played it for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, and Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
performed it frequently. (In 1940, Grainger would come to Cowell's aid by hiring him as an assistant when Cowell was paroled after serving four years in prison on a "morals" charge.) Under the name Deep Tides, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
orchestrated The Tides of Manaunaun as the first of four Tales of Our Countryside (aka Four Irish Tales), which he recorded in 1941. Cowell himself would record the original version at least twice—for Pleyel piano roll in the 1920s and for Folkways in the 1960s. It has been most recently recorded by Steffen Schleiermacher (1993, rel. 1994), Sorrel Hays (1997, rel. 1999), and Stefan Litwin (1999).
Sources
- Bartok, Peter, Moses Asch, Marian Distler, and Sidney Cowell; revised by Sorrel Hays (1993 [1963]). Liner notes to Henry Cowell: Piano Music (Smithsonian Folkways 40801).
- Cowell, Henry (1993 [1963]). "Henry Cowell's Comments: The composer describes each of the selections in the order in which they appear." Track 20 of Henry Cowell: Piano Music (Smithsonian Folkways 40801).
- Hicks, Michael (2002). Henry Cowell, Bohemian. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02751-5
Further reading
- Johnson, Steven (1993). "Henry Cowell, John Varian, and Halcyon." American Music (spring 1993).
- Lichtenwanger, William (1986). The Music of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Catalogue. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Brooklyn College Institute for Studies in American Music. ISBN 0-252-02582-2.
- Smith, Joseph, ed. (2001). American Piano Classics: 39 Works by Gottschalk, Griffes, Gershwin, Copland, and Others. Mineola, N.Y.: Courier Dover. ISBN 0-486-41377-2. Includes score, with Cowell's description of his special notation method, to The Tides of Manaunaun.
Albums including The Tides of Manaunaun
- American Piano Concertos: Henry Cowell (col legno 20064)—performed by Stefan Litwin (also includes orchestrated version performed by Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, Michael Stern–director, Stefan Litwin–piano)
- The Bad Boys!: George Antheil, Henry Cowell, Leo Ornstein (hatHUT 6144)—performed by Steffen Schleiermacher
- Henry Cowell: Piano Music (Smithsonian Folkways 40801)—performed by Henry Cowell
- New Music: Piano Compositions by Henry Cowell (New Albion 103)—performed by Sorrel Hays
Listening
- Art of the States: Henry Cowell performances of six works by the composer, including The Tides of Manaunaun