Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) was an American-Mexican composer who wrote almost exclusively for player piano. This allowed him to explore complexity in rhythmic and melodic writing beyond what is humanly possible, due to the mechanical nature of the instrument. He was an extremely influential composer and one of the earliest examples of human-machine collaboration for making music.
This piece is his Study no. 21 for Player Piano, written between 1961 and 1965 and also known as Canon X. Both hands are playing the exact same sequence of notes, but the right hand begins at a fast tempo and decelerates while the left hand begins slowly and accelerates towards an impossibly fast tempo.
I wondered what it would look like to physically perform his music. It was a fun quarantine project and I hope you enjoy it!
Performed and edited by Luis Ramirez
https://www.cutza.xyz
Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) was an American-Mexican composer who wrote almost exclusively for player piano. This allowed him to explore complexity in rhythmic and melodic writing beyond what is humanly possible, due to the mechanical nature of the instrument. He was an extremely influential composer and one of the earliest examples of human-machine collaboration for making music.
This piece is his Study no. 21 for Player Piano, written between 1961 and 1965 and also known as Canon X. Both hands are playing the exact same sequence of notes, but the right hand begins at a fast tempo and decelerates while the left hand begins slowly and accelerates towards an impossibly fast tempo.
I wondered what it would look like to physically perform his music. It was a fun quarantine project and I hope you enjoy it!
Performed and edited by Luis Ramirez
https://www.cutza.xyz
