Player piano composer Conlon Nancarrow - a biography by Juergen Hocker

My biography about the great player piano composer Conlon Nancarrow has
been published by

Schott Musik International, Mainz 2002.  294 pages with 56 mostly
unpublished photos and 10 pictures.  In German language.  Included
is a CD with Nancarrow's most important "Studies for Player Piano".
ISBN 3-7957-0476-6.  Price 39.90 euro plus shipping.

Composer Gyorgy Ligeti says, "For me he's the most important composer
of the second half of our century."

For this biography I was in contact with Helen Zimbler (Conlon's first
wife) and with Annette Margolis (Conlon's second wife), with his brother
Charles, with his step sons, with Mina Lederman, Nicolas Slonimsky and
other people which knew Conlon fairly well.

I have known Nancarrow since 1982 when he first visited Germany and
Cologne for 'performing' a concert.  But his music was played by a tape,
because there was no suitable player piano for concerts besides his own
in Mexico.  I decided to look for an appropriate instrument for concert
performances.

I needed two years to find an original Ampico-Boesendorfer grand and one
of the best restorers for pneumatically operated instruments, Joerg
Borchardt, needed two more years to restore it perfectly.  We modified
it under the supervision of Nancarrow.  Since 1986 this instrument has
been used in concerts.  I made many concert tours with Nancarrow all
over Europe: Amsterdam (1987), Cologne (1988), Berlin (1988), Hamburg
(1988), Vienna (1989), Paris (1991).

I visited him several times in Mexico and made a comprehensive
documentation in his studio.  He visited me two times in Germany.
Today I have two synchronised player pianos and can perform his studies
for two player pianos as well.

In 1988 only one of Nancarrow's two player pianos was in working
condition, and finally this player piano broke down too and he couldn't
work without an instrument.  But, in Mexico there was no restorer for
these old fashioned instruments.  When Nancarrow told me this story,
I sent 'my' piano technician, Joerg Borchardt, to Mexico and he
repaired both player pianos (naturally without any expenses for
Nancarrow).

When I visited him in Mexico he gave me access to his studio and to
his documents.  I photocopied all his piano rolls (a tremendous lot of
work), and in the last ten years I re-punched from these photocopies
nearly all of his player piano studies, using a rebuilt punching
machine similar to Nancarrow's.  Hundreds of thousands of holes!

In the 'dust of his studio' I found scores which he thought were lost:
The second and third movement of his first Trio, some early piano
compositions (e.g. Three Two-Part Studies for Piano) and his Septet
(with five missing pages).  Nancarrow often was asked for the scores of
his Septet, and he always answered, "I threw them away because I was so
angry about the bad first performance in New York in 1940."

I found in his studio, between old newspapers a score for seven
instruments.  I was absolutely excited and showed it to Nancarrow and
we had the following discussion:

  JH: "Conlon, I believe I found your Septet."
  CN: (astonished): "It's not possible, I threw it away."
  JH: "But it's for seven instruments."
  CN: (with compassion): "Oh yes, I see."
  JH: "And it's your handwriting".
  CN: "Oh yes, I recognize my handwriting."
  JH: "Have you ever written another composition for seven instruments?"
  CN: "Oh, no, never."
  JH: "Then it must be your Septet."
  CN: (angrily): "Oh, Juergen, I told you, I threw it away!"

This was one facet of Conlon's personality.  In the last years
I organised many Nancarrow concerts all over Europe with the
Boesendorfer Ampico grand (it's smaller then a concert grand, built in
1925), and I believe Nancarrow is very well known here.  But this is
mainly due to the promotion of Gyorgy Ligeti.  All these events are
written in the 'biography'.

With all my best Christmas wishes for all friends of Nancarrow and
his music!

Juergen Hocker
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany