I first heard Henry Cowell’s The Banshee when I was still in highschool. I remember falling down some long winded YouTube rabbit hole when I finally stumbled upon a recording by Joan Cerveró and Victor Trescolí. When the first sounds groaned their way out from the piano, I remember instantly pausing the recording to allow myself to process what I was hearing. How could these sounds be coming from such a monolithic instrument as the piano? Something so institutional was being disregarded as it was only being played from inside! I had never seen anything like this before and was shocked that this was allowed.
The feelings I experienced upon listening to the rest of the work can only be described as fascination and fear. For a 16 year old who has only ever really played jazz and popular music, it was certainly as shocking to me as it was to audiences in 1925 when it was composed.
I continually came back to The Banshee as I grew up and it has heavily influenced the music I compose today. I realized that things which are extreme and scary to most consumers are where I thrive. Art doesn’t need to kneel before the consumer to try to achieve greater success, it can be as unrelenting and frightening as something like The Banshee. What is the purpose of art if not to push through what is considered accessible? Music has the power to elicit incredible emotional responses, and who is to say which emotion is more valid than another? Throughout my short career as a composer I have been told that my music can be rather intense and unforgiving, and I learned from The Banshee that that is just as valid as something soft and “beautiful”.
As consumers of art, I believe that things that make us uncomfortable are just as valid if not more valid than things that comfort us. Art can be something that challenges as much as it comforts. If we are confronted by nothing but what we know, how are we supposed to grow as people to be the best we can be? The Banshee by Henry Cowell is something that helped me come to the realization that in order to be better, we must be challenged to appreciate the harsh and terrifying in life. We must confront the Banshee screaming outside our windows at night.
