Conlon Nancarrow

Conlon Nancarrow (1912–1997) was an American-Mexican composer who spent most of his career in Mexico City, where he composed an extraordinary series of Studies for Player Piano — over fifty works punched directly onto pianola rolls and unperformable by human hands. These studies explore irrational tempos, complex polyrhythm, and simultaneous tempos with a rigorous and playful imagination that makes them both intellectually overwhelming and viscerally exciting. Recorded and released by 1750 Arch Records in the 1980s, they influenced a generation of composers including György Ligeti.