Lou Harrison
American composer (1917-2003) · United States · On the map · Musicians · Died at 85
Lou Silver Harrison was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments.
Lou Harrison is read about 45 times a day, in 18 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 18 September 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Photos 6
Lou (left) and Bill Harrison (right), c. early 1920s
Harrison considered Henry Cowell (pictured) his greatest musical inspiration and one of his closest friends
Harrison developed a deep interest in the traditional gamelan ensembles of southern Indonesia (pictured)
Lou Harrison and William Colvig
Example of just intonation tuning by Harrison, using a pentatonic scale based on perfect ratios for one of his constructed gamelan instrumentsAwards
About this person
Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his former teacher and contemporary, Henry Cowell, but later moved toward incorporating elements of non-Western cultures into his work. Notable examples include a number of pieces written for Javanese style gamelan instruments, inspired after his introduction to noted gamelan musician Kanjeng Notoprojo. Harrison would create his own musical ensembles and instruments with his partner, William Colvig, who are now both considered founders of the American gamelan movement and world music; along with composers Harry Partch and Claude Vivier, and ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee.
