Nancarrow For Two

IF PRO-BUSH fanaticism has demonstrated anything to me, it's that America still loves her cowboys. That go-it-alone, my-way-or-the-highway philosophy may make for questionable international policy, but in art (where lives beyond the artist's own are not usually on the line), the most breath-taking successes often come from the minds of the most exceptional risk takers. And the American cultural community loves to worship them for their renegade status, though sadly that's not often recognized until after they are dead.

Beloved American maverick composer Conlon Nancarrow took those kinds of risks, and Miller Theatre is celebrating his legacy with a four-concert festival of his music this season.

Nancarrow's biography is worth a quick overview here. After being denied a new U.S. passport due to his socialist leanings, he headed for Mexico City, where he lived until his death. Well-trained contemporary musicians were in short supply south of the border, however, so Nancarrow wrote a series of studies for the player piano, translating his scores into hand-punched piano rolls.

The blunt sound of the automated instrument became the composer's calling card, and its mechanical capabilities resulted in the creation of fantastically complex works, especially in terms of tempo and rhythm. They are musical jigsaw puzzles, with echoes of jazz and dance tunes surfacing amid the din.

On Thursday, the Bugallo-Williams Duo will recreate 12 of the more than 50 pieces Nancarrow wrote for the player piano. Even with the four hands available to them, it will be rather stunning to see exactly how they tackle presenting the virtuosic works-music the composer never expected humans to be capable of performing.

The program will also include a presentation of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, a groundbreaking work and a fitting nod to a composer who greatly influenced Nancarrow's own creative path.

Though the 1980s saw a sudden swell of interest in Conlon Nancarrow, for much of his life he created in solitude. Considering how far from the mainstream his work was, both literally and figuratively, his steadfast commitment is rather bittersweet.

He once reportedly told fellow composer Roger Reynolds, "After I finish punching a piece and before I put it on, you have no idea how excited I am?What is going to happen?" Oh, how many of us now wish we could have been standing there at the moment the answer was played back to him.

Miller Theatre, 2960 B'way (116th St.), 212-854-7799; 8, $20, $12 st.