Editing Lou Harrison (section)

==New life in California==
===New compositional style===
The crisis during his New York years prompted Harrison to heavily reevaluate his compositional language and style. He ultimately rejected the dissonant idiom he had previously cultivated, and turned toward a more sophisticated melodic lyricism in [[diatonicism|diatonic]] and [[pentatonic]] [[scale (music)|scales]]. This put him sharply at odds with the then-current academic styles, and set him apart from the ultramodernist composers he had studied and associated with. The two years following his leave from the hospital in 1949 became one of the most productive periods of Harrison's entire career, yielding [[impressionism (music)|impressionistic]] works such as the Suite for Cello and Harp, and ''The Perilous Chapel and Solstice''.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=21}} Following in the path of Canadian-American composer and friend [[Colin McPhee]], who had done extensive research in Indonesian music in the 1930s and wrote a number of compositions incorporating [[music of Bali|Balinese]] and [[music of Java|Javanese]] elements, Harrison's style began emulating the influence of gamelan music more clearly, if only in [[timbre]]: "It was the sound itself that attracted me. In New York, when I changed gears out of twelve tonalism, I explored this timbre. The gamelan movements in my Suite for Violin, Piano, and Small Orchestra [1951] are aural imitations of the generalized sounds of gamelan".{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=160}}{{sfnp|Kostelanetz|1992|p=393}}

In the early 1950s, Harrison was given a first edition copy of [[Harry Partch]]'s book on [[musical tuning]], ''[[Genesis of a Music]]'' (1949) from Thomson.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|2006|p=22}} This prompted him to abandon equal temperament and begin writing music in [[just intonation]].{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=391}} He strived to achieve powerful music using simple ratios, and would later consider music itself to be "emotional mathematics".{{sfnp|Kostelanetz|1992|p=403}} In an oft-quoted comment referring to the frequency ratios used in just intonation, he said, "I'd long thought that I would love a time when musicians were numerate as well as literate. I'd love to be a conductor and say, 'Now, cellos, you gave me 10:9 there, please give me a 9:8 instead,' I'd love to get that!"

===Teaching and time abroad===
Harrison taught music at various colleges and universities, including [[Mills College]] from 1936 to 1939 and again from 1980 to 1985, [[San Jose State University]], [[Cabrillo College]], [[Reed College]], and [[Black Mountain College]]. In 1953 he moved back to California, settling in [[Aptos, California|Aptos]] near Santa Cruz, where he lived the rest of his life. He and Colvig purchased land in [[Joshua Tree, California]], where they designed and built the "Harrison House Retreat", a [[Straw-bale construction|straw bale house]]. He continued working on his experimental musical instruments.[[File:Penabuh gamelan.jpg|thumb|upright 1.3|Harrison developed a deep interest in the traditional [[gamelan]] ensembles of southern Indonesia (pictured)]]

Although much influenced by Asian music, Harrison did not visit the continent until a 1961 trip to Japan and Korea, and a 1962 trip to Taiwan (where he studied with the [[Guzheng|zheng]] master [[Liang Tsai-Ping]]).{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=141}} He and his partner William Colvig later constructed a tuned percussion ensemble, using resonated aluminium keys and tubes, as well as oxygen tanks and other found percussion instruments. They called this "an American gamelan", to distinguish it from those in Indonesia. They also constructed gamelan-type instruments tuned to just pentatonic scales from unusual materials such as tin cans and aluminium furniture tubing. He wrote "La Koro Sutro" (in Esperanto)<ref name=":0">[http://www.diversitycenter.org/lou/ Lou Harrison Centennial Birthday Celebration], 1917–2017, part 2 of 5.</ref> for these instruments and chorus, as well as Suite for Violin and American Gamelan. In addition, Harrison played and composed for the Chinese [[guzheng]] zither, and presented (with Colvig, his student Richard Dee, and the singer Lily Chin) over 300 concerts of traditional Chinese music in the 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>Collins, Phil (2002). [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/08.09.00/harrison-0032.html "A Sound Life"] ''[[Metro Santa Cruz]]''. Retrieved June 26, 2022.</ref> The poet and translator [[Kenneth Rexroth]] often read translations of classical Chinese poems in these concerts.<ref>https://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/items/show/54582</ref>

He was a composer-in-residence at [[San Jose State University]] in [[San Jose, California]], during the 1960s. The university honored him with an all-Harrison concert in Morris Daley Auditorium in 1969, featuring dancers, singers, and musicians. The highlight of the concert was the world premiere of Harrison's depiction of the story of [[Orpheus]], which used soloists, the San Jose State University a cappella choir, as well as a unique group of percussionists.

===Activism and other endeavors===
Harrison was outspoken about his political views, such as his pacifism (he was an active supporter of the international language [[Esperanto]]), and the fact that he was gay. He was also politically active and informed, including knowledge of gay history. He wrote many pieces with political texts or titles, writing, for instance, ''Homage to Pacifica'' for the opening of the Berkeley Headquarters of the [[Pacifica Radio|Pacifica Foundation]], and accepting commissions from the [[Portland Gay Men's Chorus]] (1988 and 1985) and by the [[Seattle Men's Chorus]] to arrange (1987) his ''Strict Songs'', originally for eight baritones, for "a chorus of 120 male singing enthusiasts. Some of them good; some not so good. But the number is so fabulous".{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=98}} [[Lawrence Mass]] describes:<blockquote>With Lou Harrison...being gay is something affirmative. He's proud to be a gay composer and interested in talking about what that might mean. He doesn't feel threatened that this means he won't be thought of as an American composer who is also great and timeless and universal.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=190}}</blockquote> [[Janice Giteck]] describes Harrison as: <blockquote>unabashedly androgynous in his way of approaching creativity. He has a vital connection to the feminine as well as to the masculine. The female part is apparent in the sense of beingness. But at the same time, Lou is very male, too, ferociously active and assertive, rhythmic, pulsing, and aggressive.{{sfnp|Miller|Lieberman|1998|p=194}}</blockquote>
Like many other 20th-century composers, Harrison found it hard to support himself with his music, and took a number of other jobs to earn a living, including record salesman, florist, animal nurse, and forestry firefighter.