Conlon Nancarrow

Although he left a small body of work, American Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) is remembered as one of the most influential and original composers of the late 20th century. Because the music he imagined was so difficult and so fast that it was beyond the ability of human performers, he created it for the player piano, punching the piano rolls by hand. His music involves canons with outrageously complex ratios and the possibility of many voices playing simultaneously at superhuman speed. In spite of the mathematical precision of his technique, his music sounds accessible, and often jazzy, making him a broadly popular composer.