String piano


String piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell to collectively describe those pianistic extended techniques in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, instead of or in addition to striking the piano's keys. Pioneered by Cowell in the 1920s, such techniques are now often called upon in the works of avant-garde classical music composers.

Techniques

String piano compositions can involve a wide range of techniques. Among those employed by Cowell, the first major proponent of the approach, are:
Strings may also be pressed at specific points along their length with the fingers of one hand while being played by the other to produce different harmonic 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 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. Other objects, such as bows and brushes, may also be used to elicit sound directly from the strings.

History

According to Cowell biographer Michael Hicks, "The first 'serious' composer to write for piano strings was probably Percy Grainger : at the close of his In a Nutshell suite, he directs the pianist to play on several bass strings with a yarn-covered mallet." Soon afterward, Cowell began using string piano techniques in his compositions. One of his first important works to employ the approach is the solo Piece for Piano with Strings. Per the Lichtenwanger listings, Cowell's earliest piece calling for string piano techniques is The Sword of Oblivion for solo piano. Like A Composition, for piano and string quartet, it combines traditional keyboard sounding with direct string playing. Aeolian Harp 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 and Sinister Resonance. How Old Is Song? is for voice and string piano.
John Cage, a student of Cowell's, was inspired by the string piano concept to pursue his explorations of the prepared piano.
In Music of the Spheres, composed in 1916–18, the Danish composer Rued Langgaard directs the pianist to play glissandi directly on the piano strings. He calls it "Glissando-piano" in the score. In Langgaard's Insektarium for solo piano from 1917, the pianist is also instructed to play directly on the strings in two of the movements.
Although few composers other than Cowell have used the term "string piano" to describe their use of the piano strings,, such techniques were increasingly called upon during the second half of the 20th century, eventually becoming part of the general vocabulary of contemporary pianistic writing and performance. Many composers have used such "inside-the-piano" techniques sporadically, as special effects; a few have made more substantial use of them, such as Crumb, Halim El-Dabh, Sofia Gubaidulina, Mauricio Kagel, Carl Orff, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Toru Takemitsu, and David Tudor.

Selected recordings