Album

Other Minds' Conlon Nancarrow: Lost Works, Last Works assembles several of the odd bits and leftovers within Nancarrow's oeuvre that fall outside of the comprehensive five-disc Wergo set that contains "everything," Conlon Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano. It also includes a 30-minute interview with Nancarrow himself, conducted by executive producer Charles Amirkhanian at Nancarrow's home in Mexico City in 1977. Therefore, the 60-minute Other Minds disc works out to roughly half music, half documentary material, and some may feel that this is rather short measure on the musical part of the program. But Lost Works, Last Works is not intended so much as an appendix to the larger set as it sheds some light on projects Nancarrow undertook that are not well-known, such as his never-finished pneumatically controlled percussion orchestra, a few early pieces from the 1930s, and his late collaboration with Seattle-based master instrument builder Trimpin.

Trimpin's involvement in this project is of particular interest; as a rule one experiences Trimpin's work only in gallery installations, and he has never permitted its circulation on commercial recordings. Nevertheless, Trimpin has relaxed this restriction in order to make available Nancarrow works in which he was involved. Although in some cases Trimpin is merely piloting the Pianola on which posthumously punched rolls of Nancarrow's music is being played, both the Blues for Piano and Contraption No. 1 are heard reproduced on Trimpin's "Conloninpurple," a sort of suspended-in-mid-air marimba played with mechanically controlled mallets. The remaining rolls come from recordings where Nancarrow himself was at the controls, including a fascinating study for prepared player piano from around 1960 for which the roll exists, but not the preparation. Nancarrow's Piece for Tape is not a European-styled musique concrète piece, but consists entirely of percussive sounds and may have been a simulation of what his pneumatic percussion orchestra would have sounded like, had he ever managed to make it work.

The interview is fun, although it is a little sad in that the inordinately time-intensive nature of his punching piano rolls by hand precluded Nancarrow's achieving the full range of polyrhythmic and textural concepts he was interested in pursuing. Listeners already devoted to Nancarrow will hardly need convincing that Lost Works, Last Works is a necessary acquisition. Those who are coming to his work for the first time could also benefit through seeking this out, as it is as friendly an introduction to a key avant-gardist as may be found on disc, and has the additional benefit of being illuminated by Nancarrow's own words.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Prelude, for piano Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
1	Prelude, for piano	1:00			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Blues, for piano Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
2	Blues, for piano	2:20			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Sonatina for Piano Work 4:02 Conlon Nancarrow Piano
3	1.Presto	1:13			$0.99
4	2.Moderato	1:39			$0.99
5	3.Allegro molto	1:10			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer String Quartet No.1 Work 4:33 Conlon Nancarrow Piano
6	Allegro molto (1st movement)	1:38			$0.99
7	Prestissimo (3rd movement)	2:55			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer (untitled) tape piece Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
8	(untitled) tape piece	2:04			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study for Player Piano No.30, for prepared player piano Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
9	Study for Player Piano No.30, for prepared player piano	2:58			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Para Yoko (For Yoko), for pianola Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
10	Para Yoko (For Yoko), for pianola	2:27			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study for Player Piano No.50 (arr. of the 2nd mvt. of the Piece No.2 for Small Orchestra) Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
11	Study for Player Piano No.50 (arr. of the 2nd mvt. of the Piece No.2 for Small Orchestra)	3:57			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study for Player Piano No.51 (No.3750), pseudo-canon in 12/16/20 Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
12	Study for Player Piano No.51 (No.3750), pseudo-canon in 12/16/20	1:25			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Contraption No.1, for computer-driven prepared piano Work Conlon Nancarrow Piano
13	Contraption No.1, for computer-driven prepared piano	3:18			$0.99
Spoken Word (No Composer) Composer Conlon Nancarrow speaks with Charles Amirkhanian Work 30:50 Conlon Nancarrow Voice
14	Making the hole-punching machine	6:11			$0.99
15	How long does it take to to punch a roll?	0:57			$0.99
16	Terraced dynamics	5:27			$0.99
17	Ethnic music connections	3:19			$0.99
18	Favorite jazz artists	0:31			$0.99
19	Canons	1:43			$0.99
20	Musical activity in Mexico	8:52			$1.49
21	Diego Rivera	3:50			$0.99