Wallingford Constantine Riegger was an American modernist composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral and modern dance music. He was born in Albany, Georgia, but spent most of his career in New York City, helping elevate the status of other American composers such as Charles Ives and Henry Cowell. Riegger is noted for being one of the first American composers to use a form of serialism and the twelve-tone technique.
Riegger in New York City, c. 1930s
Wallingford Riegger in Berlin, c. 1908
Henry Dixon Cowell was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher and the husband of Sidney Robertson Cowell. Earning a reputation as an extremely controversial performer and eccentric composer, Cowell became a leading figure of American avant-garde music for the first half of the 20th century — his writings and music serving as a great influence to similar artists at the time, including Lou Harrison, George Antheil, and John Cage, among others. He is considered one of America's most important and influential composers.
Photo from promotional flier for Cowell's 1924 Carnegie Hall debut
Henry Cowell playing the violin — aged 5 (c. 1902)
The original manuscript to Dynamic Motion (1916), showing the young Cowell's early methods for notating large piano clusters
Cowell playing the piano, demonstrating his "forearm" technique by slamming down with his right arm on the middle register, c. 1920s