You have to violate a piano physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to play this and I’m here for it.

My kindergarten teacher played a recording of this for us in 1971. I have never forgotten it, and decided to google it, and here I am.

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE AND HAVING THEIR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS PLAYING THIS TO THEM 😭😭😭

I got to hold down the pedal for a friend of mine when she performed this for a piano competition. It was a unique and rare perspective.

Legitimately one of the most terrifying pieces ever composed

Imagine breaking a piano string while playing this piece…now that’s true horror

The one sitting at the keyboard is the hostage, the victim, the witness, the sacrificial lamb

My elementary school music teacher used to play this for us every Halloween and it would scare the crap out of us

today my music history teacher played this video for us in class and the whole piece had me unnerved, but 1:23 was a legitimate jumpscare for me- it was AWESOME! i love the various techniques people like Crowell have discovered to take music to different levels!

I seriously want to learn how to play this piece so bad so when people ask me to play something for them on the pinao I'll just give them this >:)

When I was in kindergarten, my music teacher played two pieces of music which had a profound impact on me. On was "Hall of the Mountain King" which was all the more impressive because of the story behind the piece. The second was "The Banshee" by Henry Cowell. Maybe it was having a Halloween birthday, but I always liked scary and spooky things, so these two pieces were favorites. The extreme experimental nature of this piece also influenced me when I eventually got into making music myself.

He played the piano without touching it, what an incredible man

this is absolutely terrifiying i'm going to play it on repeat

The piano is screaming because you are digging through his insides

I've tried white noise, brown noise, rain sounds, everything but the only thing that helps me sleep is this on a loop. Thank you 🥱😴🛌

The human mind is capable of imagining unspeakable horrors. Truly stunning.

Genuinely more terrifying than most horror soundtracks in the whole of history.

Me at 2am the next time I sleep over in a house with a grand piano.

Finally found the song we were singing along to on the radio

I have listened to this piece many times before I actually learned about it. It is so interesting to listen to it while reading the sheet music and knowing what each section is supposed to represent.

I (as a comp major) played this on a piano recital once in college and my piano teacher was so scandalized!!!

this doesnt sound like a piano, sounds like the thing that stares at you from that dark spot

a fine.addition to the Netflix and chill dinner date music album

They played this for us in elementary school back in the 70s. I think it was 3rd grade (McNair Elementary, Fort Bragg NC). The teacher turned the lights off and told us to focus on the sound haha. A lot of the kids were freaked out by it.

I've heard this piece many times and used it in my elementary music classroom. Having a video of it actually being performed is so helpful and informative for students. Thank you for posting this!

This is so unique, quite a scary piece to listen to, but fascinating. I really wonder what kind of other music could be composed using this same technique.

Can’t wait for lyrics for this one🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣💯

Listening to this in elementary school must be why I like goth music now, lol. The creative use of dissonance. The atmosphere. No wonder I ended up liking Bauhaus (the band, not the art movement)

This would make great atmospheric music for a tabletop RPG session.

Best song ever

I remember hearing this In music class in elementary school watching this brings back hearing it for the first time if I ever get a piano I'm playing this this is what anyone who asks me to play will get

This piece says this to me: imagine seeing something in the distance. It's beautiful. It's otherworldly. You absolutely cannot avert your gaze. You venture closer and closer as you must know what it is that possessed such unnatural beauty. Then, as you approach, you get a feeling of unease. You see clearer the thing's odd form. As you draw nearer, your awe transforms into fear as you realize just how wrong you were. It is not a thing of beauty, but of abject horror the likes of which you have never experienced. What you discover is in fact a dark perversion of all that is beautiful, and you are afraid. You are terribly, terribly afraid. But it is too late. For it has opened its maw in a twisted song and is upon you. And you shall be doomed to join in its grim chorus forever ROFL LMAO XD ITS KFC BRO

Cowell is such a brilliant modernist composer, it's always a pleasure to hear his work. Thanks for uploading.

When it comes to this piece all that comes to my mind is this - "Ah, how I relish the idea of falling asleep to this haunting melody. It reminds me of a beautiful gray morning with a heavy cast of clouds, a foreboding sign of the destruction to come. The imminent storm approaches, and I cannot help but smile as I listen to the suffering cries of the seagulls fighting over scraps. As the humans disappear into the abyss, I am filled with a sense of satisfaction that only an immortal creature like myself can experience. This music is my sweet lullaby, a reminder of my eternal existence and my insatiable thirst for the suffering of others. Let the storm rage on, let the screams of the dying fill the air, for I am the master of this world, and nothing can stand in my way."

3:03 12 year old me sitting in class and the teacher is bent over helping another student and i see him from behind like

Truly terrifying, yet beautiful. I like.

This Cowell dude must have been quite a tormented individul to expect someone to interpret such a score. "Oh just Scratch it with your fingernails"

I tried this piece once but found it very hard to follow the instructions because of the unusual way (I think) the frame bridges are placed in my old grand. Here is looks much easier as all the slithering and scratching is in one area. The pedal part is quite easy it seems :) Intriguing piece from a very interesting composer. Thanks for the performance !!

Man my elementary teacher never played this to us 😭 I’m jealous

great performance! love it

This song slaps fr fr 🔥 I have never seen anyone play the piano like that before, how this is played looks as unworldly as the song being played. Great preformance!

Who came her because of there music teacher

It's genuinely sooooooo creepy. I love it! Thank you for performing it!

Fantástica obra. Parabéns ao dueto de pianistas.

Its my sleepover i get to chose the music

Me encanto. Que místico espeluznante más hermoso Bravo!!😊

probably it is black metal version of piano

I’d love to play this over and over to my 5 year old niece. I’m sure she’d love it.

This brings back MEMORIES!

Love that after years of searching I've found the song that my kindergarten music teacher showed me, just to see I've had this shared experience with hundreds of others lol

My grade school music teacher, Mrs. Roche would play this for us every year around Halloween time. She would literally pull down the shades and turn off all the lights then play it on her record player. OMG I was so creeped out and fascinated by this piece that I knew I’d never forget it. Could you imagine hearing this sound in a dark forest somewhere? Holy s**t! 😳😳

The piano's gonna need a cigarette after this 💀

haha i used to be scared by this song in the second grade :p

Yes, this is exactly what they sound like. Beautifully done; TFP.

The guy sitting at the piano stole the show, LOL!

hey vsauce michael here

My fingers are burning raw just listening to this 🤣 poor guy

Guy sitting at the piano getting absolutely cucked

Good for horror movies!

Imagine making more musical pieces from piano strings.

I can hear this piano screaming "HELP ME WHY THEY PLAY ME LIKE THISSS"

My band's pals when I'm trying to tune.

I got to assist Anthony de Mare yesterday when he performed this piece in Indianapolis. It was such a cool experience. My foot was a little tired by the end :)

Academic decathlon 2019-20 kids wya?

Wow. I came here looking for one of his fist pieces. I had not heard this one before. We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of this piece... don't throw in the towell on Henry Cowell!

And, the scariest part is every part.

Complimenti!

I think the scariest thing is seeing him do all this on his bare hands.

that guys face at 3:09 lol

love this song

lol i remember this from Kindergarten. anytime a kid got caught talking theyd get dragged off to the smile room 🤣

My favorite piano company is also YAM

Fire 🔥

I remember hearing this in music class in elementary school

This performance was F*UCKING AMAZING!! (Pardon moi Francais)!!!!!!! 😱😱😱😱🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹

That is a very appropriate name for the piece.

Acadec teams where you at

Now, this type of banshee is an evil fairy whose moaning cries bring nothing but bad luck. - Blarney Kilakilarney, The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981)

"Why this thing doesnt clean?!"

Something. Something is there. The hairs on your neck stand up, every muscle and sinew tense. Running. Running. Panic drives down like a celestial hammer. Something is there, lurking at the edge of your eyes, just at the fringes of your mind. A close brush, you see it fully- Luck, maybe. it takes a while, but eventually your heart calms and you walk away, shaken, but, mostly... Untouched.

Mad man's wonderland

Creepy music very disturbing……I love it

I dare anyone to sleep listening to this

2:21 my cat in the litter box

You don't have to be wacky to like something like this, but it does help a lot....

Very good song!!

The most terrifying thing about this video is watching him claw at the strings like that...

Henry Cowell was just goofing on everybody.

This needs to be in a horror movie 👻🎥

Perfect for a chase scene in a horror movie.

Normal Piano Piece In Ohio :

this is so extra

So cool! How was this piece notated?

This is like wow

To day this piece, I suppose, would have been composed for electronics or been a conrete sound composition.

Love it

Can I use your video?

2:20 got me.

this sounds so scary

I call it “cat on the piano musuc” (inside the piano in this case)