The expatriate American composer Conlon Nancarrow is famous for writing pieces for player pianos.

Nancarrow apparently came to the conclusion that the rhythmically complex, intricate contrapuntal music he wanted to write would prove just too difficult for mere mortals to tackle. Despite its complexity, Nancarrow’s music drew some of its deep and lasting influences from the human, all-too-human jazz stylings of Art Tatum and Earl Hines, and the complex rhythmic patterns of music from India.Nancarrow was born in 1912 in Texarkana, Arkansas.

At the age of 18, he heard Igro Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” which sparked his life-long interest in rhythmic complexity. Soon after, Nancarrow began private music studies with American composers Roger Sessions and Walter Piston. Like many idealistic Americans in the 1930s, Nancarrow joined the Communist Party, volunteered for the Lincoln Brigade, and fought in the Spanish Civil War. He moved to Mexico City in 1940, where he lived and worked until his death.

Nancarrow composed in almost total isolation until the late 1970s, when some of his piano roll compositions started appearing on record. These created quite an impact, and the MacArthur Foundation awarded him its prestigious ‘genius’ award of $300,000.

Late fame even brought a series of commissions for live performance and performers willing to take on the challenge of performing his difficult music. One of these pieces, Nancarrow’s String Quartet No. 3, was premiered on today’s date in 1987 by the Arditti Quartet.

Nancarrow died in Mexico in 1997.