Harry Partch

Harry Partch (1901–1974) was an American composer and instrument builder who rejected twelve-tone equal temperament in favour of a 43-tone just intonation scale. Unable to realise his music on existing instruments, he constructed his own — among them the Chromelodeon, the Quadrangularis Reversum, and the Spoils of War, built from found objects. His music drew on American hobo culture, ancient Greek drama, and world music traditions, aiming at a unified corporeal art combining song, dance, and speech. Works including Barstow (1941) and Delusion of the Fury (1966) remain outside the mainstream but deeply influential on just intonation and experimental composition.