Music's Unseen Body: Conrad, Cowell, Du Bois and the Beginnings of American Experimental Music

It's a truism that Conrad wanted "to make you see," but his preface to Heart of Darkness describes the novel as a "sinister resonance" and "continued vibration." These sonic strategies place Conrad unexpectedly within the history of American experimental music, beginning with Henry Cowell's influential work for piano, "Sinister Resonance." Cowell's transgressive use of overtones amplifies the importance of race and sexuality in Conrad, which is complicated by another transatlantic resonance—that between Conrad and W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk. Both writers were influenced by Wagner's emphasis on hearing music without seeing the orchestra. Ultimately, the essay retrieves the sensuality of the piano as a transatlantic nexus of race, embodiment, and sound.