Harry Partch

Composer, theorist and creator of musical instruments, Harry Partch (1901-1974) was a leading figure in the development of an indigenously American contemporary music. A pioneer in his explorations of new instruments and tunings, Partch created multimedia theatre works that combine sight and sound in a synthesis. He is acknowledged as a major inspiration to postwar experimental composers as diverse as Gyorgy Ligeti, Lou Harrison, Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson, and his book Genesis of a Music, first published in 1949, is now considered a classic.