COMPOSER

Lou Harrison

1917 - 2003

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Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. 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. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Lou Harrison is the 1,351st most popular composer (up from 1,369th in 2019), the 11,000th most popular biography from United States (up from 11,335th in 2019) and the 116th most popular American Composer.

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Among COMPOSERS

Among composers, Lou Harrison ranks 1,351 out of 1,451Before him are Norman Dello Joio, Edmund Rubbra, Earl Scruggs, Jocelyn Pook, Pritam, and Anne Dudley. After him are Robert Russell Bennett, Vladimír Godár, George Bruns, Monty Norman, Abel Korzeniowski, and George Fenton.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1917, Lou Harrison ranks 319Before him are Walter Munk, Vera Zorina, David Hampshire, Ellis Clarke, Jerry Wexler, and Mikhail Anikushin. After him are Mervyn Wood, Dezső Lemhényi, Steve Cochran, Denis Healey, Valerie Hobson, and Brenda Joyce. Among people deceased in 2003, Lou Harrison ranks 336Before him are Edward F. Moore, Peter Hacks, Jan-Just Bos, Éva Janikovszky, Robert Detweiler, and Robert John Braidwood. After him are C. Douglas Dillon, Sheb Wooley, Karen Morley, Sultan Rakhmanov, Rajko Žižić, and Trevor Goddard.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Lou Harrison ranks 11,002 out of 20,380Before him are Maria Schneider (1960), Tom Vilsack (1950), Todd Field (1964), Martha Mansfield (1899), Peter Kreeft (1937), and Robert Spitzer (1932). After him are Louis Sachar (1954), Rikishi (1965), Charles Dumas (1937), Edward Egan (1932), Evelyn Venable (1913), and Sam Balter (1909).

Among COMPOSERS In United States

Among composers born in United States, Lou Harrison ranks 116Before him are Vincent Persichetti (1915), David Del Tredici (1937), Mark Mancina (1957), Joel Goldsmith (1957), Norman Dello Joio (1913), and Earl Scruggs (1924). After him are Robert Russell Bennett (1894), George Bruns (1914), Jerry Herman (1931), Roy Harris (1898), Eubie Blake (2), and George Perle (1915).