Exploring the Piano Music of Roy Harris

Abstract

The piano music by American Roy Harris (1898-1979)has been largely neglected by pianists and scholars alike since the composer's death. In an effort to increase the awareness of the works by this composer, who was both a central and controversial figure in 20th-century American classical music, we presented a lecture-recital featuring three works that we considered representative of his style: Piano Suite in Three Movements, American Ballads (Set I), and Toccata.