ABSTRACT
The 1930s represented an era in which Henry Cowell viewed composition as a populist action. Pieces such as Celtic Set represented an ethos concerned with playable, approachable, and listenable music. Percy Grainger's encouragement and influence are apparent in at least three early San Quentin works prior to Celtic Set. Cowell's Irishness was never far from the surface and needed only the Australian to encourage him to produce what became Celtic Set. For the Californian, such qualities as Irishness, spirituality, and a sense of adventure were all legacies of his parents and ancestors. According to William Lichtenwanger, who referred to Cowell's own lists of compositional dates, "Chrysanthemums" was composed before both A Bit of a Suite for Violin and Viola and Back Country Set for Piano. Cowell attributed the improvement of the band, in large part, to the refinement of wind instrument construction and the higher standards of performance by certain wind bands.
