Music Library Association Is Collaborating With JSTOR To Digitize, Preserve and Extend Access To Notes

JOHN CAGE AND RECORDED SOUND: A DISCOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
Author(s): Rob Haskins

Source: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 67, No. 2 (December 2010), pp. 382-409
Published by: Music Library Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40926625
Accessed: 14-01-2016 15:30 UTC
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40926625?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 217.73.171.82 on Thu, 14 Jan 2016 15:30:24 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
SOUND RECORDING REVIEWS
Edited by Rick Anderson
A
JOHN CAGE AND RECORDED SOUND:

A DISCOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
By Rob Haskins
Recordcollections,- thatis notmusic.... A ladyin Texassaid:I livein

Texas.Wehaveno musicin Texas.The reasonthey've no musicin Texasis
becausetheyhaverecordings. Removetherecords fromTexasandsomeone
willlearntosing.1
JohnCage's ambivalentattitudetowardrecordedsound is wellknown.

Everskepticalof an aestheticsthatprivilegesobjects,he feltthataudi-
encesshouldpaymoreattention to art,likeexistenceitself,
as a continual
of
process becoming. In conventional music, according Cage, com-
to
posersimprisoned sounds withinrelativelystraightforwardstructuralde-
signs thatwere intended eitherto impress listenerswithintellectual
inge-
nuityor todrownthemin sentiment, preventing thesoundsfromtending
towardtheirnaturalcomplexityand ambiguity. As a result,musical
recordings brought about the mistaken impressionthatperformance -
a naturally evanescentexperience - could be reifiedand thatthe resul-
tantobjects,nowpossessedbyitsconsumers, held thesame ontological
statusas themusicitself.
Cage's emphasison becomingalso includedan ethicaldimension.He
famously spokeof his musicand ideas as usefulforsociety - thatprinci-
ples embodied in his music could be used to solvesocialproblems - and
also notedthathe had no use forrecordings. Whilethisstatement sug-
geststhatCage doubtedthesocialusefulness ofrecordings, theimplica-
tionsoftheremarkare unclear.He possiblymeantthatthefalseobjecti-
ficationof musicthroughrecordedsound discourageddifference: the
ideal stateof societiescomprisingmanyindividuals.A recordingfore-
closeda multiplicity of performance interpretations,sinceit wasitselfa
finiteobject,and it effectivelyturnedthe act of auditionintoan essen-
tiallyprivateaction.Cage sawperformances of musicas a metaphorfor
1. John Cage, "Lecture on Nothing,"in Silence:Lecturesand Writings

(Middletown,CT: WesleyanUni-
versityPress,1961), 125-26.
382
Reviews
SoundRecording 383
socialaction:the audiencewho attendedto the musicas it occurredin

acousticspace wasjust as necessaryforthe metaphoras the musicians
whoactuallybroughtthemusicintoexistence.
On occasionhe expressedhimselfon the subjectof recordingswith
unusualvehemence.In thecourseofan interview thatappearedin Peter
Greenaway's 1983
four-part documentary devoted to as manyAmerican
composers, for instance, Cage remarked:
[Arecording] merely one'sneedforrealmusic.It substitutes
destroys artifi-
cialmusicforrealmusic, anditmakespeoplethink thatthey're engaging in
whenthey're
a musicalactivity actuallynot.Andithascompletely distorted
andturned upsidedownthefunction ofmusicinanyone's experience.2
Certainly,themediumofphonography ill suitedCage's owncomposi-
tionalpractice.Articulating hisideal ofallowingsoundsto be soundsin
1958,he theorizedthatthebestacousticalspacein whichto hearhismu-
sicwasone in whichtheinstruments werewidelyseparated;thatsepara-
tionallowedeach of the soundsto exist,literally, as one of an arrayof
centersintersecting witheach otherin myriadwaysdeterminedby the
locationofindividualauditors.3 Ideal seatsin thehall no longerexisted:
everylocationofferedsomethingdifferent and therefore equallyvalu-
able. Bydefinition,even thebestrecordingcompresses sonicspace
the
comprisingthe sounds themselves; one could onlyreplicatethe ideal
Cage concertsituationwithas yetunavailablespeakertechnologythat
diffusesseparatesoundsin sucha waythata listenersensesthemissuing
froma multitude oflocations.
Cage's turntowardthe explorationof indeterminacy and itslimitsin
thelater1950sand 1960sfurther compromised thesuitability ofhismu-
sic forphonographic reproduction. Whereasformerly one could,say,re-
gard a recordingas a documentary representation of a composition's
performance the
possibilities, recording of a Cage indeterminate work
seemed to have onlynegligiblevalue as documentation, since such a
workcould be realizedin radicallydiffering ways.In effect, a recording
doubly removed the of
experience Cage's music from an audience,
whichoftenremainedunawareof the processrequiredto bringa com-
positionto performance.(Surelythisprocess,somewhatanalogousto
composingone's ownscore,is as important to theaestheticunderstand-
ing of theseworks as a performance would be.)
Only after1969- withsuch fullynotatedworksas CheapImitation
(1969), theFreeman Etudes(1977-80; 1989-90),and Litany fortheWhale
2. Peter Greenaway,4merican[FourAmerican]Composers: JohnCage,Philip Glass,Meredith

Monk,Robert
Ashley(New York:MysticFireVideo, 1991).
3. "Compositionas Process,II: Indeterminacy,"in Silence,39.
384 Notes, December2010
(1980) - did the concept of recordingtechnologyonce more seem rele-

vant to Cage's music. Many of these workswere commissioned by musi-
cians anxious to premiere his works in concert and, often,recordings
were issued soon afterthese firstperformances.Indeed, during this pe-
riod, the technology of the recording studio enabled Cage to realize
some of his most provocative achievements: Roaratorio(1979), mixed
at IRCAM, was premiered on German radio, while the Voiceless Essay
(1986: completed as part of Pointsin Space,a collaboration with Mercé
Cunninghamand JasperJohns) depended even more heavilyon the dig-
ital manipulationof recorded sound. And in his finalworks,the Number
Piece series (1987-1992), Cage generallyspecifiedfixed duration times
that lent themselvesnaturallyto the medium: some compositions,such
as Four4(1991), were even conceived forthe durationand near-noiseless
sonic surfaceof compact discs.
Indeed, Cage increasinglyrecognized the utilityof recordings- in par-
ticular,as vehicles to memorialize performancesthathe feltwere partic-
ularlynoteworthy. The head of the American label Mode Records, Brian
Brandt, recalls that the company began essentiallyin order to dissemi-
nate the work of Michael Pugliese and Frances-MarieUitti to prepare
and performEtudesBoreales(1978; Mode 1/2, 1985). In the notes of an-
other earlyMode release, an 11-performer account of his AtlasEclipticalis
(1961-62), Cage commented, "I'm glad this record exists,though I my-
selfdo not use records."4Since then,Mode has released over 50 discs of
Cage's music as part of a complete edition; the factthatthisessaywillin-
clude so manyreferencesto Mode's releases atteststo the decisivesignifi-
cance of Brandt'swork.
When complete, Mode's edition will reveal the breadth and scope of
Cage's musical legacy,which remains generallyunknown even with the
imminent arrival of his centenary in 2012. But, as I will argue, the
chronological development of his discographyillustrateshis troubling
reception as a composer: in particular,the canard that his percussion
and prepared piano music remains his most important.This attitude
only began to change in the 1990s, when the appearance of a larger
number of his worksmade it possible to appreciate the extraordinarydi-
versityof his music.
Sources
Cage wroteover 300 compositions, whichnumbershould probably
also includemanyof thetextsthathe intendedforpublicperformance:
4. BrianBrandt,
conversation
withauthor,March2002;JohnRockwell, "TheImpactand Influence
of
JohnCage,"NewYork Times,
February28, 1987<http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/08/arts/the-impact-
(accessed20 April2010).
and-influence-of:john-cage.html?pagewanted=all>
SoundRecordingReviews 385
EmptyWords(1974-75), Themesàf Variations(1982), I-VI (1988-89), and

others.It will probablybe some time before there are commercial
recordings ofhisentireoeuvre,and forthoseworksthatcan varywidely
in performance, multiplerecordings wouldfacilitatesomesenseoftheir
in
potential any case. Still,the totalnumber of recordingsis immense;
theJohnCage Trustat BardCollegeincludesa medialibrary withsome
380 commercialrecordings(CDs, LPs,DVDs, CD-ROMs,etc.),as wellas
severalhundredarchivalitems - forinstance,performances, rehearsals,
and Cage's publicreadings - in variousformats(DATs,cassettes, reel-to-
reels), most ofwhich have been transferred
to CD.5
Cage discographies have listedthe abundantcommercialrecordings
as earlyas 1970, partof an importantanthologyof primaryand sec-
ondarysourceseditedbyRichardKostelanetz;Paul van Emmerikpub-
lisheda discography thatincludesrecordings ofCage's workscomposed
as lateas 1985, and Mark is
Swed,who writing a criticalbiographyon the
composer,publishedan important surveyin 1992 thatdocumentedthe
burgeoning ofavailablerecordings thatbeganto appearin the1990s.6
The Internet,too, has provedan invaluabletool forresearch.For
some time,New AlbionRecordsmaintaineda Cage discography at its
website,but it has been removedsince becomingsupersededby two
others.The exhaustivediscography withintheJohnCage Database,at
http://www.johncage.info/, is updated regularlyand is searchableby
recordlabel, worktitle(alphabetically and chronologically), and per-
formeror ensemblename; it includesinformation on recordingsthat
are no longeravailableor in privatecollections, and it documentsinfor-
mationon reissues(eitherLP or CD). Paul van Emmerikmaintainsan
extensive websiteofsourcesat TheJohnCage Compendium(http:// www
.xs4all.nl/-cagecomp/recordings.htm, which includes a verycurrent
discography organizedalphabetically bylabel name); he noteswhether
thephysicalformof theitemis a phonographrecord,cassette,or com-
pact disc,and manyentriesincludereferences to relevantbibliographi-
cal citationscollectedin thesite'sastonishingbibliography.
Neitheroftheseremarkable electronicresourcesis organizedchrono-
logicallybythedate thattherecordings weremade or released;however,
Chaudon cross-listsrecordingsand their subsequent reissues and
Emmerikincludesinformation on the recordingformat.Of the nearly
5. LauraKuhn,e-mailto author,2 May2010;she adds thatthewebsite(http://www.johncage.org/)

willeventually
offerthisinformationina fully
searchable
database.
6. JohnCage,ed. RichardKostelanetz(NewYork:Praeger,1970);rev.rpt.(withan updateddiscogra-
phy),JohnCage:An Anthology, ed. RichardKostelanetz(NewYork:Da Capo Press,1991); Paul van
Emmerik, in Musik-Konzepte
"Diskographie," Sonderband:
JohnCageII, ed. Heinz-Klaus
Metzgerand Rainer
Riehn(Munich:EditionText+ Kritik, 1990),352-61;MarkSwed,"JohnCage Recordings: A Survey,"
Schwann Opus7,no. 1 (Winter1995-1996),23A-26A,47A-54A.
770 entriesin Emmerik'sbibliography,almost 200 describe phonograph

records that appeared before 1987; of these, a number are reissues of
the same studio recording.Searching by performername in Chaudon's
discography,for example, shows that Maro Ajemian's 1950 recordingof
what is perhaps Cage's most important early work, the Sonatas and
Interludes
forPreparedPiano (1946-48), was released three times:on Dial
Records 19 and 20 (1951), CRI SD 199 (1965), and Harmonia Mundi
HMO 34730 and HM 730 (1980?).7 And of course many of these older
recordingshave reappeared on CD at least once or twice.
At present,it is necessaryto consult both databases. Citationsof label
numbers sometimesshow slightvariation,and occasionally the number
of entriesfora particularrecordingdiffers.For example, Emmerik'ssite
liststwoDeutsche Grammophon releases of the LaSalle Quartet's perfor-
mance of the StringQuartet in Four Parts (1949): an LP (Deutsche
Grammophon 2530 735) and a CD reissue (Deutsche Grammophon 423
245-2). At Chaudon's site, the two entries are cross-listedand, in addi-
tion,he notes twofurtherLP releases (Deutsche Grammophon MG 1048
and Orbis 66 696 6) , neitherof which appears in Emmerik'slisting.8In
the discographysection of the present article,the citationsaccord with
Emmerik'ssite with two exceptions: (1) the aforementionedrecordings
of theStringQuartetand (2) anyrecordingsin theauthor'sown collection.
The EarliestRecordings
The firstreleases of Cage's music were made by the composer himself
or by individuals in his circle, including Maro Ajemian, the contralto
Arline Carmen, and the astonishinglyindefinableDavid Tudor. The ear-
liestrelease appeared around 1947 on the Disc Company of America 607
(3058A): a shellac 78-rpmrecord containingAjemian's performancesof
two movements from Amores(1943). During the 1950s, the available
repertoire widened to include the aforementioned Dial recording of
Sonatasand Interludes; the masterfulThreeDancesfortwoprepared pianos
(1944-45), performedbyAjemian and WilliamMasselos and released as
Disc Company of America 643-648 (three mono 78 rpm shellac
phonodiscs) in 1950; and a release by the New Music StringQuartet per-
forminghis StringQuartetin Four Parts (1949-50) on Columbia (ML
4495) in 1953.
Best known,of course, is the 25th AnniversaryConcert at Town Hall
(May 15, 1958), which offereda retrospectiveof Cage's compositionsas
7. AndréChaudon,JohnCage Database<http://www.johncage.info/cdlabels/diall920.html>
(ac-
cessed3 May2010).CRI reissuedtherecordingon CD as CRI 700in 1995.
8. Emmerik(accessed23 June2010); Chaudon (accessed12June2010). Chaudonnotesthatthe
recordinghasbeenlicensedbyBrilliant
Classics(9187,2010).
SoundRecording
Reviews 387
wellas a fewpremieres.The lion's shareof the programwas takenup

withsuch earlyworksas selectionsfromthe Sonatasand Interludesfor
Piano (1945-48), The Wonderful
Prepared WidowofEighteenSprings(1942),
and theFirstConstruction (in Metal)(1939); his chancemusicwas repre-
sentedbytwosmallworksfrom1952 (MusicforCarillon No. 1 and Williams
Mix)and thepremiereoftheConcert for Piano and Orchestra(1957-58).
Withthe exceptionof the Six ShortInventions (1934; rev. 1958)-
chromaticand somewhatderivativeworksthatsurelywould be com-
pletelyignoredtodayhad Cage not gone on to writemoreprovocative
music- theprogramming choicesconfirm thesingularcreativity oftheir
creator.The performance, in particular, of the FirstConstructionseems
revelatory: Cage's keen ear fortimbre emergesclearly in the music,not
only in his choice ofinstruments, but also in hisunderstanding ofpartic-
ularproperties ofvariouskindsof percussioninstruments; forinstance,
the wayhe exploitsthe characteristic attackof a cymbal,whichalways
increasesin amplitudeimmediately afteritis struck.
GeorgeAvakian, whoco-producedtheconcertalongwithCage's artist
friendsJasperJohnsand RobertRauschenberg,recallsthatthe audi-
ence's greatestexpressionof displeasurefollowedthe Williams Mixper-
formance, butthatthe Concert's premierewasremarkable becausesome
audiencemembersactuallybecame a partof the performance through
the noise theymade: a claque of malcontents(who had purchasedthe
leastexpensiveseats,Avakianwryly observed)resortedto sustainedap-
plause in an attemptto bringthe performanceto an end. Even the
musicianscontributed to thedebacle,sabotagingtheperformance byoc-
casionally ignoringCage's notationsand playingwhatever theywished-
soundsreminiscent ofBach,jazz, and otheridiomsas wellas theostinato
preceding the"Dance oftheAdolescents" in Stravinsky's
RiteofSpring.9
David Tudor's importanceto Cage's compositional developmentand
general career cannot be overestimated. As late as 1971, Cage admitted
thathe wroteall of his musicwithTudor's abilitiesand outlook in
mind.10 His virtuosity and rapid changesof stylein the Concert perfor-
mance testify to the typeof musicianshiprequiredby Cage's music.
HearingTudorunaccompaniedis,ifanything, evenmoreelectrifying: a
recording of the solo work Music ofChanges (1951), made at WDR Köln
on November25, 1956,is probablythegreatest performance ofthework
(therecording wasissuedon CD as Hat[now]Art 133in 2001).
9. George Avakian,"About the Concert,"in The 25-YearRetrospective

ConcertoftheMusic ofJohnCage,
Wergo6247-2(1994;reissueofrecording
from1958),18;fortheRiteexcerpt,
referto thetubaentry
at
3:23on CD 3.
10. John Cage, FortheBirds:JohnCage in Conversation
withDaniel Charles(Boston: Marion Boyars,1981),
120.
In 1959, Folkwaysreleased another historic recording: the amusing

and inspiringstoriesof Indeterminacy, read by Cage and occurringsimul-
taneously with - definitelynot accompanied by- Tudor's magnificent
performanceof the SoloforPiano fromthe Concert coupled withFontana
Mix (1958). No doubt the entertainingqualityof the storiesaccounts for
its continuing popularity (the CD re-release,Smithsonian/Folkways SF
40804/5, has remained in printsince 1992); however,the idea of attend-
ing to Cage and Tudor simultaneously,as music, is probablymore con-
frontationalthan anythingperformedon the 25th AnniversaryConcert.
This release is also importantbecause it documents the youngerCage, a
charismaticand extremelyauthoritativeadvocate for his particularvari-
etyof avant-gardeart. (This harder,more insistentCage disappeared in
the '70s, replaced by a kinder and gentler elder statesman who wore
denim clothes obtained froman Amishmail order catalogue.)
Fame: 1961-1972
Cage's cultural prestigeskyrocketedduring the decade of the 1960s.
His firstcollection of writings,Silence(published in 1961), inspired and
amused a generation of artistsfrom everydiscipline and walk of life;
even though its reception in music periodicals was oftenfarfromfavor-
able, no amount of critique could dislodge the thoughtsabout art and
aestheticsthatit contained.James Pritchetthas argued that the publica-
tion of Silencewas the most important event in Cage's career;11it has
never gone out of printsince it firstappeared. Shortlythereafter,C. F.
Peters obtained exclusive rightsfor the publication of his music. The
number of his professionalengagements increased: his participationin
the Mercé Cunningham Dance Company's 1964 internationaltour,for
instance, heightened his reputation worldwide,and an importanttwo-
yearguest appointmentat the Universityof Illinois resultedin the multi-
media extravaganzasMusicircus(1968) and HPSCHD (1969, made in col-
laboration withLejaren Hiller) , both of which boasted audiences in the
thousands.Not all of his performancesgarnered such acclaim; the disas-
trousNew York Philharmonicperformanceof AtlasEclipticalis(1961) in
1964 was the firstof several debacles involving major orchestras ill-
equipped to deal with Cage's music- the performancewas released in
2000 by the Philharmonic (NYP 2003) and is no longer available. Many
of the orchestra members played whatevertheywished and destroyed
the contact microphones that he had purchased for the performance,
makingit necessaryforhim to replace themforeach subsequent perfor-
11.JamesPritchett,
TheMusicofJohnCage(Cambridge: Press,1993),142.
University
Cambridge
SoundRecording
Reviews 389
mance.12 Allin all,however, theoverallpublicawarenessofCage reached

itszenithduringthisperiod.
Nevertheless, onlya handfulofCage recordings werecommercially re-
leased duringthiscriticaldecade: around twelverecordingsappearing
on thirtyreleases.Withtheexceptionof a Time Recordsreleasein 1961
(Time Records Series200058000) includingCage as performer in hisear-
lierpercussion works,Cage and his circle
were mostlyinvolved in record-
ing new works: Aria with
Fontana Mix (1958) on Time Records Series2000
58003 (1961 or 1962), Cartridge Music(1960) on Time RecordsSeries
200058009 (1962), Variations IV (1963) on EverestSDBR 3132and SDBR
3230 (1966,1968). Probably mostfascinating
the recording fromthispe-
riod is Tudor'sastoundingperformanceof Variations II forpiano and
electronicsounds(CBS S 34-61064,1967;reissuedon CD as SonySICC
78 [2002]): theingenioustransformations ofpianosoundsrevealTudor's
own considerablegiftsas a composerwho workedextensively withlive
electronics,and theengineering oftherecording itselfis superb.
By contrast,severalothernoteworthy recordingsbysoloistsand en-
sembleswhowerenot so closelyconnectedwithCage concentrated on
much earlierworks:Phillip Rehfeldtreleased a performanceof the
SonataforClarinet (1933) in 1964 (AdvanceFGR-4),and twodifferent
recordings of the Sonatasand Interludesappeared:the 1965 re-releaseof
theAjemianDial recordingand a newone byYujiTakahashi(Fylkingen
FYLPX101-2m,1966;recordedin 1965). Tworeleasesof the Concerto for
Piano and Chamber
Prepared Orchestra
(1951) appeared in 1968, the firstby
Yuji Takahashiand the BuffaloPhilharmonic conductedbyLukas Foss
(NonesuchRecordsH-71202),the second byTõshi Ichiyanagiand the
JapanPhilharmonic and an unknownconductor(RCAVictorSJX1003).
From the soloist's dignityto the wealth of detail in the orchestra,
Takahashi'srecordingdocumentsone of thegreatperformances of this
important work; a CD is
reissue sorelyneeded.
JeanneKirstein's noteworthy releaseof earlypiano works(CBS Music
ofOur TimeS 34-61169and S 34-61225,ca. 1970;reissuedon CD as New
World80664-2,2007) includedpremiererecordings ofsuchpiecesas the
Metamorphosis (1938) and Two Pieces(1935), along witha numberof
othercompositions including The Perilous
Night. who taughtpi-
Kirstein,
ano at the CincinnatiCollege-Conservatory of Music,playsexpertly al-
beita littlecoolly,or perhapstoo respectfully; but Cage supervisedthe
recordings, whichstrengthens therelease'shistoricalimportance.
12. Cole Gagne and TracyCaras,Soundpieces:

Interviews
withAmerican (Metuchen,NJ:
Composers
ScarecrowPress,1982),74.
Two landmark recordings from 1971 and 1972 present the work of
European performersexclusively.Rainer Riehn is a German composer
and conductor; he and his partnerKlaus Metzger (1932-2009) founded
the Ensemble Musica Negativa in 1969 to performexperimentalmusic
by Cage and others.13The 1971 release, titled Music before Revolution
(EMI 28954-28957), includes a somewhatunsteadyperformanceof Credo
in US (1942) and a simultaneous reading of the Concert forPiano and
Orchestrawiththe firsttwo Solos forVoice (1958 and I960). The perfor-
mance of the Concertboasted a veryspecial soloist, Hermann Danuser,
now betterknown as one of Germany'sforemostmusicologistsspecializ-
ing in twentieth-century music, while the vocal solos are marvelously
handled by Bell Imhoff and Doris Sandrock; what is more, the dry
acoustic allows the individual parts to be heard more clearlythan they
might be otherwise.EMI reissued the recording on CD in 2008 (John
Cage: ConcertforPiano and Orchestra;Credoin Us [sic]; ImaginaryLandscape
No. 1; RozartMix; SuiteforToyPiano; MusicforCarillon,EMI 34554), with-
out howeverincludingthe extensiveessayby Metzgerand a recorded
interview withCage.14Acrossthe channel,the EnglishensembleGentle
Fire- composed of the conductor Richard Bernas, Hugh Davies,
GrahamHearn,StuartJones,and MichaelRobinson - releaseda discof
worksbyBrown,Christian Wolff, and Cage (MusicforAmplified ToyPianos
[1960] and MusicforCarillonNos. 1, 2, and 3 [1952-53]) in 1974 (1C
065-02469)- thelatterperformed on a real carillonand recordedout-
doors,completewithoccasionaltraffic noises.These Cage works,too,
werereissuedon theaforementioned EMI CD.
That recordingsof Cage's earliermusicshouldappear in such abun-
dance requiressomeexplanation.No doubttheextremes ofCage'sinde-
terminate music,whichbaffledmanyaudiencesand critics, playedsome
role.Writing in 1964 about the releaseof CartridgeMusic,OliverDaniel
describedthe musicas "a sortof protractedneedle scratch."15 Indeed,
suchworkschallengedalmosteveryexpectationofwhata musicalpiece
shouldbe: theywereoftenperformed in unusualvenues;theycould last
any amount oftime (often,
performances tendedtowardlengthsthatex-
ceeded thedurationsforconcertworksor evencompleteconcertsthem-
selves); and theycould contain a varietyof unusual, even fearsome
sounds.Facedwiththeconsiderablecreativefreedomsthesescoresoften
invited,manyperformers no doubtpreferred to workwithfullynotated
13. Metzgerhad advocatedforCage since1960,and thetwomenalso helpedcommission Cage to

writeEuroperas Operain 1987.
1 & 2 fortheFrankfurt
14. Missing, ofworksbyMortonFeldman,EarleBrown,and ToshiIchiyanagi
too,are recordings as
withFeldmanand Brown.
wellas a recordedinterview
15. OliverDaniel,"TheEnlivening Avant-Garde" 47,no. 13 (March28,1964),61.
Review
Saturday
SoundRecording
Reviews 391
scores and spend all of theirenergyrecreatingthe sounds specified

ratherthaninventing entirelynewones.
But althoughsome criticsdislikedCage's newestworks,otherswere
enchanted:thoseworkscontaining a plurality
ofdifferentkindsofmusic
wereparticularly popular. This was hardlysurprisingduringthepsyche-
delic 1960s;probablytherampantturntowardfreedomand exploration
duringthe decade made Cage as likelya soundtrackas, say,Jefferson
Airplane.In a reviewof thesecondinstallment of the EverestVariations
IV, Eric Salzman reportedthathe'd just heard a recordingof Schu-
mann'sCarnivalimmediately beforeand was startledto hear again the
SchumannwithinthecacophonoustextureofCage'swork:
Well,thought I, eitherSchumann has gottenstuckin thespeakersor my
mindhasfinally beenblown.Itwasneither, ofcourse,justpartof Variations
TV.Itissuchcoincidences thatmakeCage'snuttiest
freakoutssomehow rele-
vantto a nuttyworldscrambled bytechnology we hardly yetunderstand.
Well,digit,man,digit!... One oftheparlorgamesofthefuture willbe
"CatchthatQuoteintheJohnCageVariations TV.™
The hodgepodgeofstyles wasnotnew:CathyBerberian,in hersuperla-
tiverecordingofAria(regrettably, unavailableon compactdisc),adopts
an extremely widevariety ofsinging:operaticdiva,littlegirl,Frenchpop
chanteuse,country star.Considering howeasyitis to destroy Cage bybe-
ingtoo funnyor too careless,we can be grateful thatBerberianchose to
interpret Cage's music.Witha lesserartist,thesestylesmighteasilypro-
vokethefeelingof farceand devolveintothe harmlessgame thatSalz-
manimaginesin Variations TV.Instead,she presentseach stylewitha per-
suasiveconviction thatultimately invitesa Buddhisticreactionfromthe
listener:attendingto each style,experiencing an emotion(amusement,
bewilderment, irritation),and leavingtheimpression behind.
The HPSCHD releaseon Nonesuch (H-71224,[1969]) enjoyedspir-
itedreviewsbothpro and con. Famously, the disccontainsa distillation
of themultichannel tapes and seven harpsichords intotwochannels,an
audio textureof near-impenetrable density.Based as it is on Mozart's
MusicalDice Game (KV Anh. 294d), a joyous triplemeterrepletewith
dance-likerhythms is clearlyaudibleabove thedin,whilethecomputer-
generated sounds blurt and bleep in an almostcarnivalesque fashion.It
is a good-natured din,oddlyfamiliarsoundingand remoteat the same
time.Kostelanetz, who describedthe performance in lovingdetail,de-
scribed the phonographicaccount as "the best (and most) Cagean
record ever made"; Alan Rich pronounced it "a 22-minuteblock of
16. "[ReviewofVariationsIV]", inJohnCage,ed. Kostelanetz,150.
inchoate sound that sounds like a saturnalia in a harpsichord factory,

withno beginningor end or interveningshape."17
Renewed Possibilities:1973-1986
Afterthe phenomenal success of HPSCHD, Cage widened his aesthetic
purviewto re-embracethe music of the past. The explorationbegan with
his CheapImitation, a piano work that took as source material the exact
rhythms from the principal melodic line of Erik Satie's Socrate(1915);
Cage used chance operations to select pitchesother than the ones in the
original composition.Thereafter,a number of Cage compositionsrelied
on at least some elements of traditionalnotation,and theirperformers
learned the music in a traditionalmanner.Indeed, sometimesCage com-
posed according to his own taste,as forinstance in some solos fromthe
monumentalSongBooks(1970). At the same time,soloistsand orchestras
became more interestedin his music and in commissioningnew works.
The pianist Grete Sultan met Cage in 1945 (thanks to another pianist
well known in Cage biography,Richard Buhlig, a member of Schoen-
berg's circle who commented on Cage's earliest music). For her, he
made the EtudesAustrales(1974-75); for the St. Paul Chamber Orches-
tra,Score(40 DrawingsbyThoreau)and 23 Parts(1974); and forthe Boston
Symphony and otherorchestras,RengaandApartment House1976 (1976).
A particularly fruitfulcollaborationwiththe AmericanviolinistPaul
Zukofsky resultedin an arrangementof CheapImitation, the Freeman
Etudes(1977-80; 1989-90),and Chorals(1978). Zukofsky recallsthathe
wasparticularly keen to perform newCage worksbecausethecomposer
had re-embraced conventional whichoffered
notation, morepossibilities
forinterpretation thanhisgraphicscores.18
The piano and violinworksappearedveryshortly aftertheircomposi-
tion on twosmall labels: Tomato released Sultan'saccount of Etudes
Australeson fourLPs (TOM 2-1101and TOM 300 841, 1979;reissuedon
CD as Wergo6152-2in 1987), whileZukofsky's own MusicalObserva-
tions label released the Chorals,CheapImitation, and the firsteight
FreemanEtudes in 1981 and 1983 (CP27, CP212; reissuedon CD as
CP2103in 1991). Both recordingsare historically important as perfor-
mancessupervisedbyCage, and theSultanrecordings haveenduredas
benchmarks forotherperformances.
Atthesametime,however, Cage continuedto createmoreexperimen-
talworks,suchas Empty Words,an evening-lengthtextpiece drawnfrom
17. "Environmental Abundance," 176;AlanRich,"Up theWallwith

inJohnCage,ed. Kostelanetz, John
Cage,"NewYork 2, no. 40 (October6, 1969):54.
18. Paul Zukofsky,"JohnCage'sRecentViolinMusic,"in AJohnCageReader: In Celebration
ofHis 70th
ed. PeterGena,Jonathan
Birthday, Brent, and Don Gillespie(NewYork:C. F. Peters,1982),101.
Reviews
SoundRecording 393
Thoreau'sJournal; ChildofTree(1975), whichrequiresthe performer to

use instruments made fromplant materials;and Roaratorio (1979), a
compositionoriginally forradio broadcast(and assembledat IRCAM)
thatincludeda vasttapestry of soundsmentionedin Joyce'sFinnegans
Wake along with Cage'sreadingofa textcreatedfromthesamesource.
Twoof his ownrecordedperformances fromthisperioddeservespe-
cial comment.In 1977,Crampsissueda concertperformance of Cheap
Imitation recordedMarch7, 1976 at MillsCollege (CRS LP 6117, 1977;
reissuedas CRS CD 117 in 1989). Of course,the piano figurespromi-
nentlyin the reminiscences Cage wasfondof makingin interviews and
as a
writings: child, he loved to the
play piano music of Grieg;he discov-
eredthemusicofBach froma fewlessonswithLazareLevyin Paris;and
he had to perform his SonataforClarinet on piano whenhe realizedthe
clarinetistwhowasto havepremiereditdidn'tbotherto learnthemusic.
The Millsperformance showsCage as a musicianwithan incrediblegift
fortonalcontrol;theinterpretation itselfis minimally butis by
inflected
no meansmechanicalor perfunctory.
In December 1977,Cage appeared in a notoriousconcertin Milan
wherehe performed thethirdpartoí Empty Words.The audiencebeganto
getrestless around10 minutesintoan eventthatlastedwellover2 hours
without a break;liketheTownHall dissenters of 1958,theyattempted to
bringtheconcertto an end withapplauseand,whenthisfailedto work,
resortedto something thatsoundsmorelikea riotworthy of 1968.The
performance wasrecordedbut not releaseduntil1990 (as CrampsCRS
CD 037-038;itis currently availableas Ampersand Ampere6,2004).
In the main,othernew recordingsfromthisperiod continuedthe
trendofreleasingperformances ofolderworks,especiallyduplicateper-
formances of theworksforpercussionor preparedpiano. Nevertheless,
thesereleasesgenerally maintaina uniformly highlevelcomparedto the
majority of earlierrecordings. One of the greatest,a stunningaccountof
the Three Dances,wasrecordedbythebrilliant pianist/conductor Michael
TilsonThomasalongwithRalphGrierson;it appearedon LP in 1973as
AngelS-36059and wasreissuedon CD in 2002 as Angel67691.Herbert
Henck's 1982 recordingof MusicofChanges(Wergo60099, 1982; reis-
sued on CD as 60099-50in 1986) was describedas the firstcomplete
recordingof the workand is stillone of the mostimportantavailable
performances. JoshuaPiercebegan issuinga recordingof all the pre-
pared piano works in the late 1970s;recordingsof the same worksap-
peared on variouslabels (includingTomatoTOM-2-1001,1977); Wergo
reissuedtheearlyrecordings in theearly1990sas partofa seriesofCDs
devotedto all of Cage's earlierpiano music.Twoothernotablereleases
offered otherearlypieces.Zukofsky led a recordingoftheSixteen Dances
(1950) forMusical Observations(CP215, 1984; reissued on CD as CP2115

in 2002), and the BrooklynPhilharmonicrecorded (in an arrangement
byRobertHughes) the rare PartyPieces(1945) - a compositionmade col-
laborativelywithLou Harrison,VirgilThomson, and Henry Cowell. The
recordingwas published in 1983 (GramavisionGR 7006); so faras I can
determine,thisis the onlyrecordingof thisworkand is no longeravailable.
1987 and After
In 1987, Cage celebrated his 75th birthday;although he had already
become a kind of elder statesmanof the avant-garde,thisyearin particu-
lar was importantbecause it signaled an increasingscrutinyof his work
by scholars,critics,and performers.The notable symposium,John Cage
at Wesleyan,took place at WesleyanUniversityfromFebruary22 to 27,
1988; a volume that published some papers from that symposiumin-
cluded an essaybyJames Pritchettthatintroduced his importantanalyti-
cal insightsinto Cage's music.19The Wesleyansymposiumalso included a
number of performancesof Cage worksby distinguishedperformersin-
cluding the ArdittiQuartet. (Documentary recordings,some of which
have been released by Mode, are archivedat Wesleyan.) Cage fulfilleda
number of commissions for all sorts of performers,chamber groups,
opera companies, and orchestras,and the number of performancesand
publicationsdevoted to his workskyrocketedduringthisperiod.
likelyincreased as a resultof Cage's unexpected deathjust
This activity
a fewweeks before his 80th birthdayin September 1992. Koch's touch-
ing tribute,A Chance Operation:TheJohn Cage Tribute(3-7238-2 Y6x2,
1993), included new memorial compositionsas well as MeredithMonk's
performanceoí Aria and Frank Zappa's performanceof the iconic 433"
(1952). But it was probablyalso motivatedby the astonishingvarietyof
Cage's music itself,which was beginning to be widelydiscovered,as well
as the distinguishedperformancesof his workthatappeared during this
period.
Cage's late work was dominated by a number of instrumentalpieces
made using more or less conventionalpitch materialthatperformersre-
alized in flexiblemeasures called time brackets,which generallygave a
range of possible start-and end-times.One group of pieces called Music
for (1984-1986) comprised a number of separate instrumental
parts and a single voice part that could be combined in many possible
configurations.A complete recording of all seventeen parts was pub-
19. JamesPritchett, Cage'sChanceMusic:AnAnalytical

"Understandingjohn inJohnCage
Approach,"
ed. RichardFlemingand WilliamDuckworth
at Seventy-Five, PA: BucknellUniversity
(Lewisburg, Press,
1989),249-61.
SoundRecording
Reviews 395
lishedin 1993,performedbyJoan La Barbaraand the San Francisco

Contemporary MusicPlayersconductedbyStephenL. Mosko (Newport
Classic PremierNPD 85547). The largerseries of NumberPieces-
so called because all the titlesreferredto the numberof performers
involved- exploredsparsertexturesand longerdurations.Veryfewof
themexceeded the totaldurationsof ordinaryconcertmusicand the
serieswas thuswell suitedforthe numerouscommissionsthatCage
receivedin his finalyears.Cage also producedthreesubstantial music
theaterworks-Europeras 1 of 2 (1987), Europeras 3 & 4 (1989), and
Europera 5 (1991)- alternatelychaoticand elegiacin tone.
Sincethepiano had occupiedso muchofCage's attention overhisca-
reer,many of thenew and best recordingsthatwere released duringthis
period were producedbypianists.MargaretLeng Tan, who began per-
forming Cage's musicin the 1980s,exploiteda certainkindof dynamic
pianismin her performances, one whichincludeda distinctly choreo-
graphic element. She revivedCage's earlywork Four Walls (1944), which
is one ofhismostproto-minimal and movingworks.It waswritten at the
heightof the difficultiesassociatedwithhis estrangement and eventual
divorcefromhiswife,Xenia,and at thetimeofhistotalcommitment to
his long partnership withMercéCunninghamthatcontinueduntilthe
end ofhislife.The pathosof thispiece emergesveryclearlyin Tan's in-
tenseand passionateperformance forNewAlbion (NA037,1991); this
releasewas thefirstauthorizedrecordingof thepiece. She has concen-
trated,in the main,on Cage's earlyworks:forMode, she has recorded
such earlypieces as JazzStudy,Totem Ancestor(both 1942), and Triple-
Paced (1943- Mode 106, 2002) as well as firstrecordingof the little-
known ChessPiecesand the Sonatas and Interludes(Mode 158, 2006); a
numberof otherpreparedpiano worksincludingBacchanale(ca. 1938),
Daughtersof theLonesomeIsle (1945), and In theName of theHolocaust
(1942- NewAlbionNA070CD,1994); and a magnificent readingof the
ConcertoforPreparedPiano and ChamberOrchestra(ECM NewSeries
1696,2000). But Tan also premieredand recordedthe complexOne2
(1989), whichwasscoredforbetweenone and threepianosplayedbya
singleperformer and whichalso requiredtheplayerto use a numberof
otherobjects,suchas a Japanesecup gong,as musicalinstruments(also
on Mode 106).
Indeed,Mode has issuedsome of thegreatestpiano recordingsof his
musicavailable.CompactdiscswithPhilippVandréinclude both the
Sonatas and Interludes
forPreparedPiano as well as all of the shorterpre-
paredpianopieces(Mode 50, 1996;Mode 180/81,2007). His recordings
are, I think,distinctive
because he alwaysuses a smallergrandpiano
which,whenprepared,has an extremely detailedand resonantcharacter.
Stephen Druryhas made a number of recordings,several of whichwere

supervisedby Cage before his death. Among the greatestis his perfor-
mance of the late bowed piano concerto Fourteen(Mode 57, 1997),
which also includes a brilliantlynuanced reading of the Concert forPiano
and Orchestra with David Tudor and Ensemble Modern, conducted by
Ingo Metzmacher; The Seasons (1947; Mode 63, 1998); and the first
recording of the difficultpiano parts from Musicfor (Mode 47,
1995). Like Fourteen,the parts both include some passages for bowed
strings,and the hauntingsound perfectlyevokes the quietude thatoften
characterizedCage's late music.
SteffenSchleiermacheris the firstpianist to have finisheda complete
recordingof all Cage's piano music,whichhe made forthe MD&G label.
He is an artistof uncompromisingvirtuosity and energywho is at his best
in such virtuosicworksas the Music ofChangesand EtudesAustrales(MDG
613 0786-2, 1998; MDG 613 0795-2, 2002). Occasionally, however,
Schleiermacher's creativity gets the betterof him; forinstance,he resorts
to technologyin his recordingsof the MusicforPiano series (MDG 613
0784-2, 1998), superimposingmultiple performancesof himselfto cre-
ate the illusion of piano ensemble music; although the choice was no
doubt economicallyprudent,it also foreclosedthe musical opportunities
affordedto manypianistsperformingtogetherin real time.
The most importantrecordingsof the percussion worksare those by
the Amadinda Percussion Group (Hungaroton HCD 31844, 1999; HCD
31845, 2000 HCD 31846, 2000; HCD 31847, 2006; HCD 31848, 2008).
This ensemble was the dedicatee for the late Four4(1991), and all the
recordingsare produced by the eminent Cage scholar András Wilheim.
Quatuor Helios has also produced some fine recordingsforWergo,one
of which (Wergo 6651-2, 2001) includes a performanceof a 1985 work
thatsurelyholds the record for the longest titlein Westernclassical mu-
sic: But whataboutthenoiseofcrumpling whichhe usedtodo in orderto
" or paper
paint the seriesof "Papiersfroissés tearingup paper to make "Papiers
déchirés?"Arp was stimulatedbywater (sea, lakeand flowingwaterslikerivers),
forests.
whohas recordedall oftheviolinmusicfor
IrvineArditti,
The violinist
Mode, holdsa specialplace in the history
of Cage performance forhis
rolein thecompletionof theFreeman Etudes.Cage had abandonedwork
on themin 1980 whilehe was in the processof composingthe eigh-
teenthetude;thechanceoperationsthathe used to createthepiece re-
sultedin a passage of such densitythathe believedit was unplayable.
Therefore, ratherthanturningto an electronicrealizationof themusic
or overhaulingthe compositionalprocessforthe work,he elected to
abandon it altogether.In 1989, however,Cage heard Ardittiplay the
SoundRecording
Reviews 397
etudes withsuch skillthathe was inspiredto complete the project.

Arditti had interpreted Cage's noteto playtheetudes"as fastas hisvirtu-
ositypermits" to mean "as fastas possible."As a result,Cage realizeda
way to continue withthe etudesbywriting a performance note asking
that,in cases wherea passage had manynotes,the performer should
as
play many notesas hisvirtuosity His
permits.20 most record-
significant
ingsforMode includetheEtudes(Mode 32, 1993 and Mode 37, 1994);
Choralscoupled with One6,a 1992 workcontainingonly harmonics
(Mode 118,2003); and CheapImitation (Mode 144/45,2005).
Cage's solo and ensemblevocalmusicis underrepresented on record-
ings.Joan La Barbara (forwhom Cage made the vocal part Musicfor
of
) had already recorded Solo 45 fromSong Booksalongwithherown
compositionTapesongs (Chiaroscuro Records CR-196,1977); although
thatdischas notbeen reissued,a laterrelease(NewAlbionRecordsNA
035, 1990) ofsolo worksincludesthreeothersolosfromSongBooks,The
Springs(1942), and Sonnekus2(1985) - a work
WidowofEighteen
Wonderful
interleaving solo vocalpiecesbyCage withvarioussongsofErikSatie.La
Barbarabringsa razor-sharp intonation and- perhapsmostimportant -
a composer'ssensibility to all herwork;she is probablythemostimpor-
tantinterpreter ofCage'svocalmusicsinceBerberian.
Mode's principaloffering forthevocalmusicis a collectionofvarious
pieces performed byVocal GroupArsNova (Mode 71, 1998). In addi-
tionto the late choralworkFour2(1990), composedfora highschool
madrigalchoir,the disc includesthe majorworkHymnsand Variations
(1979). Thiscomposition is one ofa numberofpiecesCage made using
eighteenth-century hymnsbyWilliamBillingsand othercomposers:his
methodinvolvedsubjecting thepitchmaterialto chance,removing some
tonesand extendingotherspasttheiroriginaldurations,therebycreat-
inga severely denaturedneoclassicism of surprising
appeal. The release
also includesa kindoflatepostscript to SongBooks- foursoloscomposed
in 1988forElectricPhoenix,an Englishgroupthatreleasedtheoriginal
recording ofHymns and Variations in 1986 (EMI EL 2704521).
It is a commonplacethatCage's musicexpressesno ideas or evokes
anyexpressionwhatever. I hold the viewthatperformers and auditors
are freeto havean emotionalresponseto themusicso longas thatpar-
ticularresponseis notimposedupon others.Certainly, for
thepossibility
emotionalresponsesemergesquite readilyin late workssuch as the
Europeras, whichunitein collagepre-existing materialfromtheoperatic
repertory. The end of Europeras 3 & 4, as performed bytheLong Beach
20. JamesPritchett,
"The Completion
ofJohnCage's FreemanEtudes,"Perspectives
ofNewMusic32,
no. 2 (summer
1994):264-65.
Opera (Mode 38/39, 1995), is particularlystrikingin this regard. Here,

almost all sound disappears except for a chance-determinedcollage of
recordings played by one performerand the fragmentsof Liszt opera
paraphraseschosen by the pianist.While the phonographic excerptswill
change fromperformanceto performance,the sequence of piano frag-
ments does not. Thus, the work always concludes with a note of
poignancy when the transcriptionof Wagner's "Oh du mein holder
Abendstern"fromTannhäuserappears in itsentirety.21
Naturally,Cage continued to perform,alwaysattemptingto achieve
somethingthathad not been done previously.On July23, 1992, he gave
his last concert in New York's Central Park. On that occasion, he was
joined by La Barbara, William Winant, and Leonard Stein for the pre-
miere of Four6(1992), a workdedicated to Pauline Oliveros thatgave the
musicians the freedom to choose the sounds that were heard over its
thirty-minute duration. (Cage supplied each performerwitha series of
timebrackets,each of which contained a numberfrom1 to 12 which the
performerswould relate to their particular choices.) Cage himselfde-
scribed his contributionto the performanceas "shockingsounds." The
concertwas released in 1995 (Music & ArtsCD-875).
Looking toward2012
September 5, 2012 will mark Cage's centenary.If the recordingsof his
music that have appeared in the last fewyears offerany indication, his
music stillhas manysurprisesto offer:the qualityof performancescon-
tinues to increase; the premiere recordingsof certaincompositionscon-
tinue to appear; and artistsdevoted to his works still manage to find
imaginativesolutionsto the problems he posed in his music in a manner
thatreassertshis continuingculturalrelevance.
The composer/performerGlenn Freeman has been producing a se-
ries of recordingsdevoted to the Number Pieces and other late works.
His label, OgreOgress, has issued important premiere recordings of
Two3(1991) forshõ and conch shells (OgreOgress 634479370557, 2004)
and two orchestral works from 1992: Twenty-Six withTwenty-Eight and
Twenty-Nine and Eighty(OgreOgress 634479962141, 2009). Both of these
releases appeared in DVD Audio format,which allows extremelylong
workslike Two3(which lasts two hours) to be heard withoutpauses. For
the orchestralworks,Freeman uses extensiveoverdubbingwith a small
group of performers;as noted above, thisapproach maynot facilitatean
21. SeeJohnCage,Europeras 3 à? 4, LongBeachOpera (Mode 38/39,1995).The Wagnertranscrip-

tionbeginson Disc2 at 19:41.In an e-mailto theauthorofJuly3, 2003,JamesPritchett recallsa
vaguely
storythatthechoiceoftheWagneras theclosingfragment becamecodifiedbecauseitworkedso wellin
thefirstperformance.
Reviews
SoundRecording 399
ideal performance, butitmakesit possibleto heartheworks.In spiteof

a handfulof orchestralrecordingsthathave appeared over the last
decade,Cage'sorchestral musicremainsunderrepresented on disc.
Anotherpremiererecordingfrom2007 documentsa typically Cagean
concept: Postcardfrom Heaven (1982), scored for an ensemble of twenty
harpsand an optionalvoice part (ArpaVivaFoundationInc. CD 001,
2007). The harpiston therecording, Victoria Jordanova, observesin her
accompanying liner notes that the work is rarelyperformed. Once more,
Jordanova resorts to overdubbing techniques to achieve the ravishingef-
fect of twentyharps playingtogether,and the inventivecomposer
PamelaZ, whoperforms thevoiceobbligato,bringsa sensualelementto
thesoundwhilefocusingthecomplex,shifting textures oftheharps.
Perhaps the most important addition to the Cage discography in the
last ten yearsis AmeliaCuni's ravishingperformance of Solo 58 from
SongBooks(OtherMinds1010,2008). The Solo consistsof a numberof
graphicscoresthatallowtheperformer to create18 microtonalragas;as
is oftenthe case in Cage's music,the performer has considerable(but
nottotal)freedomin whatshe performs and forhowlong.But thefact
thatCage's scoredescribesbothragasand talaswithoutmuchexplana-
tionmakesthisparticular solo one ofthemostdifficult to approachand
perform in a responsible manner.Cunisucceedsbecauseofheramazing
background:she has studieddhrupad singingand kathakdance for
manyyearsand alsoworksas a composer/performer in Berlin.
The mostrecentitemin thisdiscographyis a 2009 release (Wergo
6713) thatincludes earlyand late works.ContrabassistStefanoSco-
danibbiooffers brilliant and ratherfrightening transcriptionsofthefirst
fiveFreemanEtudes:particularly aptsinceCage saidthatthedifficulty of
theworksoffered theperformer a metaphorfortheindividual's political
actionin spiteof overwhelming social problems.The release also in-
cludes Scodanibbio'smasterly performance of Ryoanji(1984)- a glori-
ouslymicrotonalcompositionwhosescoreconsistsof elegantlycurving
linesthatfrequently intersect,whichmustbe realizedbya solo musician
performing one line in concert withthe otherspre-recorded. Cage had
heard one of Scodanibbio'sperformances and praisedit. Scodanibbio
also leads a spiritedperformance of the Concert forPiano and Orchestra,
thistimewithoutpiano; the performance seemsto privilegeno one in-
strument, and itssonicvariety makesitone ofthemostsuccessful perfor-
manceson record.
Conclusion
Cage's continuingattentionfromscholars,in particular,acts as a
double-edgedsword:whileit helpsto demystify
his methodsand clarify
his importance to twentieth-century and contemporarymusic, it also

runs the risk of vitiatingthe subversivethrustperpetuated by his best
work and greatest performances. Likewise, the proliferationof Cage
recordings raises some concern that a growingfamiliaritywith his im-
mense oeuvre will dull the impact of his music or discourage the most
imaginativeand provocativeperformancespossible. Future performers
and audiences of Cage's music will need to reconcile the varied and
sometimes contradictorymessages gleaned from the composer's com-
ments on successfuland unsuccessfulperformances,the phonographic
evidence of artistswho knewand workedwithhim,and the new possibili-
ties proposed by younger generationsof musicianswho may not neces-
sarilyhave direct contactwithCage or his circle or who, more critically,
endeavor to make his music speak for audiences participatingin a cul-
turalenvironmentincreasinglydivergentfromthe one Cage knew.
More broadly,however,the great varietyof available Cage recordings
demonstratesto many professionalmusicians an unimagined wealth of
worksfor practicallyeveryconceivable medium and intended for many
levels of technicaland musical ability.Even performerswho specialize in
the music of our time will probably not know this repertoryin its en-
tirety;indeed, for each of the well-known,frequentlyrecorded works-
such as the FirstConstruction - one can point to
or Sonatas and Interludes
an importantworkthathas been recorded onlyonce or not yetin its en-
tirety.SongBooksmaybe Cage's most importantcompositionand is woe-
fullyunderrepresented in the catalog: no complete recorded perfor-
mance has appeared as yet. Similarly,the demanding works in the
so-called Ten Thousand Things series- which includes such composi-
tions as 26' 1.1499" for a StringPlayer (1955) and 27' 10.554" for a
Percussionist (1956) - are in desperate need of new recordings,and such
textworksas EmptyWords,Themes& Variations, and Anarchy(1987) have
scarcelyestablished a performance history,let alone a sustained pres-
ence on disc.
For the most part,the major labels have long ceased any commitment
to Cage's work,new or old, and some of the most significantreleases-
for instance, Cuni's Solofor Voice58 - appear on small labels with pre-
cious little budget for advertisingor distribution.In the aftermathof
America's recent economic crisis, Mode Records presented a benefit
concert to help shore up its resources; this label remains the best and
brightesthope for all of Cage's music, and its demise would deliver a
grievous blow to the ongoing reception of his work. Nevertheless,the
small-label recordings enjoy a relativelygreater visibilityto consumers
thanksto internetsellers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which
can store and list a much more varied inventorythan localized stores.
SoundRecording
Reviews 401
Indeed,technological advanceshaveenabledindividualsto producean

ever-increasingquantity of highqualityrecordings,and the Internetal-
lowsconsumersto locate thesereleasesmoreeasily.It maywellbe that
thefutureoftheongoingdiscography dependson suchrecord-
critically
In
ings. any case, Cage's commitment to inventionand innovationres-
onateswiththegreatest advocatesofhiswork,and likelyguaranteesthat
theyearsto comewilloffersurprise, and probablymore
unpredictability,
thana littleconsternation.
DISCOGRAPHY
ArdittiQuartet.JohnCage:Thirty PiecesforStringQuartet;JakobUllman:
Komposition 2.
fürStreichquartett hr-musik.de hrmn 036-07, 2007.
Bärtschi,Werner, Martin and
Mumelter, Wen-Sing Yang. MusicforThree.
KochInternational Classics3-6714-2, 1998.
BartonWorkshop.TheBartonWorkshop PlaysJohnCage.EtceteraKTC
3002, 1992.
Berberian,Cathy.LucianoBerio/E. E. Cummings: SyIvanoBussotti:
Circles;
Frammento;JohnCage: Aria with Fontana Mix. Time Records Series2000
58003, 1961 or 1962.
Bernstein,Leonard. Bernstein Live.NewYorkPhilharmonicOrchestra.
NewYorkPhilharmonic SocietyNYP2003,2000.
Cage,John.Amores. MaroAjemian.Disc CompanyofAmerica607,1947.
. AtlasEclipticalis& Winter Music; 103. JanacekPhilharmonic
Orchestra, PetrKotik,conductor. Asphodel2000,2000.
withWinter
. AtlasEclipticalis Music.The CompleteJohn Cage
Edition,Vol. 2. New PerformanceGroup,John Cage, conductor.
WesleyanSymphony Orchestra,HarttContemporary Players,Arditti
Quartet,MelvinStrauss,conductor.Callithumpian Consort,Stephen
Drury, Mode Records3/6,1986;reissue,Mode 3/6,2007.
director.
. BirdCage.JohnCage and others.ElectronicMusicFoundation
EMF CD 013,2000.
. CagePerformsCage:Empty Words withMusicforPiano,One7.John
Cage, YvarMikhashoff. The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 41.
Mode 200,2009.
Music.JohnCage, David Tudor.Time RecordsSeries
. Cartridge
200058009,1962.
JohnCage. CrampsCRS LP 6177, 1977;reissue,
. CheapImitation.
Cramps CRS CD 117, 1989.
. TheChoralWorks 1: Four2;Hymns and Variations;
earforEAR;Living
RoomMusic;Five;FourSolos.The CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 18.
VocalGroupArsNova,TamasVeto,conductor. GertSorensen,percus-
sion.Mode 71, 1998.
. Chorals;CheapImitation.Paul Zukofsky.Musical ObservationsCP2

7, 1981; reissue,Musical ObservationsCP2 103, 1991.
. Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1, "ThePreparedPiano": 1940-1952.
SteffenSchleiermacher. Dabringhausund Grimm
Musikproduktion
MDG 613 0781-2,1997.
Music
Piano Music,Vol. 2, MusicforPiano 1-85; Electronic
. Complete
forPiano.Steffen
Schleiermacher. Dabringhausund
Musikproduktion
GrimmMDG 613 0784-2,1998.
Piano Music,Vol. 3, Music of Changes.SteffenSchleier-
. Complete
Dabringhausund GrimmMDG 613 0786-2,
macher.Musikproduktion
1998.
Piano Music,Vol. 4, Pieces,1950-1960. SteffenSchleier-
. Complete
1999.
Piano Music,Vol. 5, TwoPianos.Josef Christof,Steffen
. Complete
Schleiermacher. Dabringhausund GrimmMDG 613
Musikproduktion
0789-2,2000.
. CompletePiano Music, Vol. 6, Pieces, 1960-1992. Steffen
Schleiermacher. Dabringhausund GrimmMDG 613
Musikproduktion
0791-2,2001.
Piano Music,Vol. 7, Pieces,1933-1950. SteffenSchleier-
. Complete
2001.
Piano Music,Vol. 8, Hommageà Satie. SteffenSchleier-
. Complete
2002.
Piano Music, Vol. 9, EtudesAustrales.SteffenSchleier-
. Complete
2002.
. Complete Piano Music, Vol. 10, Etcetera.SteffenSchleiermacher,
Andreas Seidel. MusikproduktionDabringhaus und GrimmMDG 613
0798-2,2002.
. The CompleteStringQuartets,Vol. 1. The Complete John Cage
Edition,Vol. 3. The ArdittiQuartet.Mode 17, 1989.
. The CompleteStringQuartets,Vol. 2. The Complete John Cage
Edition,Vol. 5. The ArdittiQuartet.Mode 27, 1992.
. ConcertforPiano and Orchestra; AtlasEclitpicalis.Joseph Kubera.
The Orchestraof the S.E.M. Ensemble, Petr Kotik,conductor.Wergo
WER 6216-2,1993.
. ConcertoforPreparedPiano and ChamberOrchestra. Yuji Takahashi.
BuffaloPhilaharmonic Orchestra,Lukas Foss, conductor. Nonesuch
Records H-71202, 1968.
. Concerto Piano and Chamber

forPrepared Orchestra.
Toshi Ichiyanagi.
Orchestra.
JapanPhilharmonic RCAVictorSJX1003,1968.
. Concertofor PreparedPiano and ChamberOrchestra;Sixty-Eight.
Robert Regös. Symphonieorchester des BayerischenRundfunks,
LucasVis,conductor.
Col LegnoWWEÌCD 20088,2003.
. Credo
in US:MoreWorks EditionJohnCage. Quatuor
forPercussion.
Helios.Wergo6651-2,2001.
. Dances jor Soloistand Companyoj 3 [SixteenDances]. New Music
Concerts,Toronto,Paul Zukofsky, conductor.MusicalObservations
CP215, 1984;reissue,MusicalObservationsCP2115,2002.
. DaughtersoftheLonesome Isle.MargaretLeng Tan. New Albion
RecordsNA070CD,1994.
theWorld(You will onlymakeMattersworse).
. Diary: How to improve
JohnCage.Wergo6231-2,1992.
. Dream.StetanoScodanibbio.Wergo5713-2,2009.
. Eight;Two;One*.The BartonWorkshop, JamesFulkersonand
FrankDenyer,co-directors. Megadisc MDC 7803,2005.
. EmptyWords{ParteIII). John Cage. CrampsCRS CD 037-038,
1990;reissue,Ampersand Ampere6,2004.
. EtudesAustrales.GreteSultan.TomatoTOM 2-1101and TOM
300 841,1979;reissue,Wergo6152-2,1987.
. EtudesBoreales;
Ryoanji.The CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 1.
Frances-Marie Uitti,MichaelPugliese,Isabelle Ganz. Mode Records
1/2,1985.
. Europera5. The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 8. Martha
Herr,GaryBurgess,YvarMikhashofF, JanWilliams,Don Metz.Mode
36, 1994.
. Europeras3 & 4. The CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 10. Long
Beach Opera,AndrewCulver,director. Mode 38/39,1995.
. Fifty-Eight.
PannonischesBlasorchester, Wimvan Zutphen,con-
ductor,hatARTCD 6135,1993.
. TheFives(x).The BartonWorkshop. MeeadiscMDC 7815,2002.
. Four4.GlennFreeman.OgreOgress643157094524, 2000.
. Freeman Etudes:BooksOne and Two.The CompleteJohn Cage
Edition,Vol.7. IrvineArditti.Mode 32, 1993.
. Freeman Etudes:BooksThreeand Four.The CompleteJohnCage
Edition,Vol.9. IrvineArditti.Mode 37, 1994.
. Freeman EtudesI-VIII. Paul Zukofsky.
MusicalObservationsCPZ
12,1981;reissue,MusicalObservations CP2 103,1991.
. Hymns and Variations.
ElectricPhoenix.EMI EL 2704521,1986.
. Indeterminacy.
JohnCage,DavidTudor.Folkways 3704,1959;reis-
sue,Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40804/5,1992.
. JamesJoyce,
MarcelDuchamp,ErikSatie:An Alphabet.EditionJohn
Cage.JohnCage and others.Wergo6310 2, 2003.
. JohnCageat Summerstage.
JohnCage,Joan La Barbara,William
Winant,LeonardStein.Music& ArtsCD-875,1995.
. LitanyfortheWhale.Theatreof Voices,Paul Hillier,conductor.
HarmoniaMundiHMU 907187,1998.
. The Lost Works:The CityWearsa SlouchHat; Fads and Fancies in
theAcademy; A ChantwithClaps.The CompleteJohnCage Edition,
Vol. 15. Mode 55, 1996.
. MrJohnCage'sPreparedPiano.John Tilbury.Decca Headline
HEAD 9. 1975; reissue [as Sonatas & Interludesfor PreparedPiano] ,
Explore EXP0004, 2006.
. Musicjor Keyboard,
1yJD-lbHo.Jeanne Kirstein.Lifo Music or Dur
Time S 34-61169 and S 34-61225, [1970]; reissue,New World 80664-2,
2007.
. MusicforEight.EnsembleAvantgarde,
SalomeKammer,Leipziger
Streichquartett.
MusikproduktionDabringhausund GrimmMDG 613
0701-2,1996.
. MusicforMarcelDuchamp;MusicforAmplifiedToyPianos; Radio
Music; 433"; Sixty-two MesosticsRE MercéCunningham. Juan Hidalgo,
WalterMarchetti,Gianni-EmilioSimonetti,Demetrio Stratos.Cramps
Records CRS LP 6101, 1974; reissue,Cramps CD CRS CD 101, 1989.
. MusicforMercéCunningham.The Complete John Cage Edition,
Vol. 5. Mode 24, 1991.
. MusicforPiano 1-84. Sabine Liebner. Neos 10703/04, 2003, 2007.
. Musicfor Trombone:Ryoanji;Sob forSlidingTrombone; Twer.James
Fulkerson,FrankDenyer.EtceteraKTC 1137, 1992.
. MusicofChanges.David Tudor. Hat[now]Art133, 2001.
. Music of Changes.Edition John Cage. Herbert Henck. Wergo
60099, 1982; reissue,Wergo 60099-50,1986.
. TheNumberPieces1: Four3;Oner;Two6.The Complete John Cage
Edition, Vol. 12. MartineJoste,Ami Flammer,Dominique Alchour-
roun,Jean Michaut. Mode 44, 1995.
. The NumberPieces 2: Five3. Monique Buzzarté, The Arditti
Quartet.The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 19. Mode 75, 1999.
. The NumberPieces 3: One8. The Complete John Cage Edition,
Vol. 32. Michael Bach. Mode 141, 2004.
. The NumberPieces 3: Two*.The Complete John Cage Edition,
Vol. 39. Rob Haskins,Laurel KarlikSheehan. Mode 193, 2008.
. One4;Four; Twenty-Nine.ChristinaFong, Karen Krummel,Glenn
Freeman,Michael Crawford.OgreOgress 643157342823, 2002.
. One7[fromOne13];One8.OgreOsress 643157358725, 2001.

. OrchestralWorks1: 101; ApartmentHouse 1776; Ryoanji. The
Complete John Cage Edition, Vol. 11. New England Conservatory
Philharmonia,WalterBuckingham,Darrell Dunn, Semenya McCord,
Chiam Parchi, Fenwick Smith, Anthony D'Amico, Michael Miller,
Petur Eirksson.Avant-GardeEnsemble of New England Conservatory,
Stephen Drury,conductor.Mode 41, 1994.
. The Orchestral
Works 2: Etcetera.
The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,
Vol. 21. New England ConservatorySymphonyOrchestra,Callithum-
pian Consort,Stephen Drury,conductor.Mode 86, 2000.
. The Orchestral
Works3: One9 and 108. The Complete John Cage
Edition,Vol. 26. MayumiMiyata,WDR SinfonieorchesterKöln. Mode
108, 2002.
. The Perilous Night;Four Walls. Margaret Leng Tan, Joan La
Barbara. New Albion Records NA037, 1991.
. ThePiano Concertos: ConcertoforPreparedPiano; Concert farPiano;
Fourteen.The Complete John Cage Edition, Vol. 16. David Tudor,
Stephen Drury. Ensemble Modern, Ingo Metzmacher, conductor.
Callithumpian Consort of New England Conservatory,Charles Peltz,
conductor.Mode 57, 1997.
. The Piano Works1: Music for Two; One; One5; Music Walk.The
CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 13. Stephen Drury.Mode 47, 1995.
. The Piano Works2: Sonatas and Interludes.The Complete John
CaffèEdition,Vol. 14. PhilippVandré. Mode 50, 1996.
. The Piano Works3: The Seasons; Cheap Imitation;ASLSP. The
CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 17. Stephen Drury.Mode 63, 1998.
. The Piano Works6: SevenHaiku, Music of Changes,Suitefor Toy
Piano. The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 29. MartineJoste.Mode
147, 2005.
. PostcardfromHeaven. Victoria Jordanova, Pamela Z. ArpaViva
Foundation Inc. CD 001, 2006.
. Music for (Music for Seventeen);QuartetsI- VIII. Joan La
Barbara, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Stephen L.
Mosko, conductor. NewportClassic PremierNPD 85526, 1993.
. Roaratono.The Complete John Cage Edition, Vol. 6. John Cage,
Joe Heaney, Seamus Ennis, Paddy Glackin, Matt Malloy, Peadher
Mercier,Meli Mercier.Mode 28/29, 1992, 2002.
. SculpturesMusicales; Twenty-Six withTwenty-Nine;Twenty-Six with
&
Twenty-Eight Twenty-Nine; Eighty. Christina Fong, Prague Winds,
Karen Krummel,Michael Crawford,Glenn Freeman, Chance Opera-
tionsCollectiveof Kalamazoo. OgreOgress 634479962141, 2008.
406 Notes,December
2010
. TheSeasons.MargaretLeng Tan. AmericanComposersOrches-

tra,DennisRussellDavies,conductor. ECM NewSeries1696,2000.
. Seven;Quartets I-VIIL OrchesterJakobsplatzMünchen,Daniel
Grossmann, conductor. Neos 10720,2007.
. SingingThrough. JoanLa Barbara.NewAlbionRecordsNA 035,
1990.
. Sixteen
Dances.BostonModernOrchestraProject,Gil Rose,con-
ductor.BMOP Sound 1012,2009.
. Solofor 'Cello.EditionJohn Cage. FriedrichGauwerky. Wergo
66932, 2007.
. Solofor Voice58: 18 Microtonal Ragas. Amelia Cuni, Werner
Durand,RaymondKaczynski, FedericoSanesi.OtherMindsOM 1010-
2, 2007.
. SonataforClarinet. PhillipRehfeldt.AdvanceFGR-4,1964.
. SonataXIII;MusicforMarcelDuchamp; SongBooksI-II; Empty
Words
III JohnCage,PeterRoggenkamp, ScholaCantorumStuttgart, Clytus
Gottwald, leader.WergoWER 60074,1976;reissue,WergoWER 6074-
2, 1991.
. SonatasandInterludes. HerbertHenck.ECM NewSeries1842/43,
2003.
. Sonatasand Interludes forPreparedPiano.JoshuaPierce.Wergo
WER60156-50,1994.
. Sonatasand Interludes forPreparedPiano. Maro Ajemian. Dial
RecordsDial 19 and 20, 1951; reissue,ComposersRecordings,Inc.
CRI 700,1995.
. Sonatasand Interludes forPrepared Piano.Yuji Takahashi.Denon
CM 7673,1985.
. SonatasandInterludes forPreparedPiano.YujiTakahashi.Fylkingen
FYLPX101-2m,1966.
. Sonatasand Interludes forPreparedPiano;Dream.Louis Goldstein.
Greensye Music4794,1996.
. StringQuartet inFourParts.NewMusicStringQuartet.Columbia
ML 4495,1953.
. Ten;Ryoanji; Fourteen.IvesEnsemble,hatARTCD 6159,1994.
. TheTextPieces1: Series reMorrisGraves;ArtisEithera Complaint
or
Do Something Else; WhatYouSay.The CompleteJohnCage Edition,
Vol.20. Mode 84/85,1999.
. Thirteen.Ensemble13, ManfredReichert,conductor.CPO 999
227-2,1993.
MusicforPiano. Savaria Symphony
PiecesforFive Orchestras;
. Thirty
Orchestra,PeterEotvos,conductor.ZoltánJeney,AndrásWilheim,
László Vidovszky,László Sáry, Barnabas Dukay. Hungaroton SLPD

12893, 1987: reissue,Hungaroton HCD 12893, 2001.
. Three;Twenty-Eight (also withTwenty-Sixand Twenty-Nine).
Susanna
Borsch, Prague Winds, Christina Fong, Karen Krummel, Michael
Crawford,Glenn Freeman. OgreOgress 63447975401, 2008.
. ThreeDances.Maro Ajemian and WilliamMasselos. Disc Company
ofAmerica 643-648,1950.
. ThreeDances.Michael Tilson Thomas and Ralph Gnerson. Angel
S-36059,1973; reissue,Angel 67691, 2002.
. Three2; Twenty-Three; Six; Twenty-Six.Christina Fong, Glenn
Freeman,Karen Krummel.OgreOgress 643157094623, 1999.
. The 25-YearRetrospective ConcertoftheMusic ofJohnCage.Avakian
KO8Y-1499-1504, 1958: reissue,Wergo 6247-2,1994.
. Two3; Inlets; Two4.Tamami Tono, Glenn Freeman, Christina
Fong. OgreOgress 634479370557, 2004.
. Two4;Two6;Five2;Five5; Seven; Seven2.Ives Ensemble, hat ART
CD2-6192, 1996.
. VariationsII. David Tudor.CBS S 34-61064, 1967; reissue, Sony
SICC78, [2002].
. VariationsI- III; Lectureon Nothing.Motion Ensemble. The
CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 29. Mode 129, 2003.
. VariationsTV.EverestSDBR 3132 and 3230, 1966; 1968; reissue,
Legacy 439, 2000.
. Violin.ChristinaFong. OgTeOsress 643157094425, 1998.
. Violinàf Piano. Andreas Seidel, SteffenSchleiermacher.Musik-
produktionDabringhaus und GrimmMDG 613 1607-2,2010.
. Voiceand Piano. Anna Clementi, SteffenSchleiermacher.Musik-
produktionDabringhaus und GrimmMDG 613 1076-2,2001.
. Works forPercussion. Edition John Cage. Quatuor Helios. Wergo
6203-2,1991.
. Works forPercussion, Vol. 1, (1933-1941). Amadinda Percussion
Group. Zoltán Kocsis. Hungaroton HCD 31844, 1999.
Group. Zoltán Kocsis and Katalin Károlyi.Hungaroton HCD 31845,
2000.
. Works forPercussion, Vol. 3, (1991). Amadinda Percussion Group.
Hungaroton HCD 31846, 2000.
Group. Zoltán Kocsis, Zoltán Gavodi. Hungaroton HCD 31847, 2006.
Group. Zoltán Kocsis. Hungaroton HCD 31848, 2000.
. The Works
forPiano 4: One2; WorksofCalder;Triple-Paced;
Musicfor
MarcelDuchamp;Totem Ad Lib;Jazz Study.The CompleteJohn
Ancestor;
Gage Edition,Vol. 25. MargaretLeng Tan, BurgessMeredith,
John
Cage. Mode 106,2002.
. The Worksfor Piano 5: Four Walls; Soliloquy;3 Easy Pieces. The
CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 28. Haydée Schvartz,
JackBruce.
Mode 123,2003.
. The Works
forPiano 7: ChessPieces;Sonatas and Interludes;Chess
Serenade
[byVittorioRieti].The CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 34.
MargaretLengTan. Mode 158,2006.
. The Works
forPiano 8: Complete
ShortWorks
forPreparedPiano. The
CompleteJohnCage Edition,Vol. 37. PhilippVandré.Mode 180/81,
2007.
. Works forPiano and PreparedPiano. Joshua Pierce. Wergo WER
60151, 1986; reissue,WergoWER 60151-50,1988.
. Works forPiano and PreparedPiano, Vol. 2. Edition John Cage.
JoshuaPierce. WER 60157-50,1988.
. Works forPiano, ToyPiano and Prepared Piano, Vol.Ill (1944-1960).
Joshua Pierce, Maro Ajemian, MarilynCrispell,Joe Kubera. Wergo
6158-2,1991.
. Worksfor Piano & PreparedPiano, Vol. 4. Edition John Cage.
Joshua Pierce, Adria Firestone, Borah Bergman, Dorothy Jonas,
Joseph Kubera, MyraMelford,Fumiko Miyanoo. Wergo WER 6159-2,
1996.
. TheWorks forSaxophone1: Four3;Ryoanji;Hymnkus; Five;Five4.The
Complete John Cage Edition, Vol. 24. Ulrich Krieger and others.
Mode 104, 2002.
. The Works forSaxophone2: Two;AtlasEclipticalis;Composition for3
Voices;Solo for Baritone Saxophone; Solo withObbligatoAccompaniment;
SonataforTwoVoices. The CompleteJohn Cage Edition,Vol. 35. Ulrich
Kriegerand others.Mode 160, 2006.
. The Works for Violin3: Two4.The Complete John Cage Edition,
Vol. 22. IrvineArditti,MayumiMiyata,Stephen Drury.Mode 88, 2000.
. The Works forViolin4: Nocturne;6 Melodies;Two6;8 Whiskus;One10.
The Complete John Cage Edition, Vol. 23. Irvine Arditti,Stephen
Drury.Mode 100, 2001.
. The Works for Violin5: Chorals;One6.The Complete John Cage
Edition,Vol. 27. IrvineArditti.Mode 118, 2003.
. The Works for Violin6, The StringQuartets4: 44 Harmoniesfrom
Apartment House 1 776; Cheap Imitation.The Complete John Cage
Edition, Vol. 32 [sic; Vol. 33]. Irvine Arditti,The ArdittiQuartet.
Mode 144/45, 2005.
Cage, John and Lejaren Hiller. HPSCHD. Antoinette Vischer, Neely

Bruce, David Tudor. Nonesuch H-71224, 1969.
. HPSCHD. Robert Conant, Joel Chadabe. Electronic Music
Foundation EMF CD 038, 2003.
Cage, John, Lou Harrison, Virgil Thomson, and Henry Cowell. Party
Pieces.Arranged by Robert Hughes. Brooklyn Philharmonic, Lukas
Foss, conductor.GramavisionGR 7006, 1983.
A ChanceOperation:TheJohnCage Tribute. Koch InternationalClassics 3-
7238-2Y6x2, 1993.
Ensemble Musica Negativa. Music before Revolution.EMI 28954-28957,
1971; partialreissue,EMI 2 34554, 2008.
Ericsson, Hans-Ola. Organ Music fromthe U.S.A.: Ives: Variationson
"
"America,AdesteFidelis in an Organ Prelude;Copland: Preamble(fora
SolemnOccasion),Episode;Feldman:PrincipalSound; Cage: Someof "The
HarmonyofMaine."BIS CD-510, 1992.
Gentle Fire. Earle Brown,JohnCage, und ChristianWolff. EMI 1C 065-02
469, 1974; partialreissue, EMI 2 34554, 2008.
LaSalle Quartet.JohnCage, WitoldLutoslawski:Streichquartette. Deutsche
Grammophon 2530 735, 1976; reissue, Orbis 66 696 6, 1976; reissue,
Deutsche Grammophon MG 1048, 1977; reissue (as Lutoslawski,
Penderecki, Cage, Mayuzumi:StringQuartets),Deutsche Grammophon
423 245-2,1988; reissue,BrilliantClassics9187, 2010.
La Barbara,Joan. Tapesongs. Chiaroscuro Records CR-196, 1977.
Manhattan Percussion Ensemble. Concert Percussion.Time Records 2000
58000, 1961.
Newband. Newbandrlays MicrotonalWorksbyParten,Lage, La Barbara,
Drummond. Mode 18, 1990.
Tan, Margaret Leng. Sonic Encounters:The New Piano; Cage, Crumb,Ge
Gan-ru,Hovhaness,Satoh.Mode 15, 1988.
Tudor, David, and John Cage. RainforestII, Mureau: A Simultaneous
Performance.New WorldRecords NW 80540-2,2000.
BRIEFLY NOTED
By Rick Anderson
Hildegardvon Bingen.Komponisten composer Hildegard of Bingen has re-

8c Mystikerin.
Ensemble für Frühe tained her gripon the listeningpublic's
MusikAugsburg.ChristophorusCHR imagination.Enough is knownabout her
lifeand careerthatherimagecan be fash-
77314,2009[1990]. ioned to fitany numberof musicaland
Overthe nearlythreedecadessinceher politicalagendas,but it is the richnessof
rediscoverybya musicworldrecently intox- her melodiclanguageand the passionate,
icated by all varietiesof earlymusic,the devotionalintensity
of bothher lyricsand
twelfth-century abbess,mystic,poet, and her musicthatbringlisteners(and record

Music Library Association Is Collaborating With JSTOR To Digitize, Preserve and Extend Access To Notes

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Music Library Association Is Collaborating With JSTOR To Digitize, Preserve and Extend Access To Notes

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

JOHN CAGE AND RECORDED SOUND: A DISCOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Author(s): Rob Haskins

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JOHN CAGE AND RECORDED SOUND:

Recordcollections,- thatis notmusic.... A ladyin Texassaid:I livein

JohnCage's ambivalentattitudetowardrecordedsound is wellknown.

1. John Cage, "Lecture on Nothing,"in Silence:Lecturesand Writings

socialaction:the audiencewho attendedto the musicas it occurredin

2. Peter Greenaway,4merican[FourAmerican]Composers: JohnCage,Philip Glass,Meredith

(1980) - did the concept of recordingtechnologyonce more seem rele-

EmptyWords(1974-75), Themesàf Variations(1982), I-VI (1988-89), and

5. LauraKuhn,e-mailto author,2 May2010;she adds thatthewebsite(http://www.johncage.org/)

770 entriesin Emmerik'sbibliography,almost 200 describe phonograph

wellas a fewpremieres.The lion's shareof the programwas takenup

9. George Avakian,"About the Concert,"in The 25-YearRetrospective

In 1959, Folkwaysreleased another historic recording: the amusing

mance.12 Allin all,however, theoverallpublicawarenessofCage reached

12. Cole Gagne and TracyCaras,Soundpieces:

13. Metzgerhad advocatedforCage since1960,and thetwomenalso helpedcommission Cage to

scores and spend all of theirenergyrecreatingthe sounds specified

16. "[ReviewofVariationsIV]", inJohnCage,ed. Kostelanetz,150.

inchoate sound that sounds like a saturnalia in a harpsichord factory,

17. "Environmental Abundance," 176;AlanRich,"Up theWallwith

Thoreau'sJournal; ChildofTree(1975), whichrequiresthe performer to

(1950) forMusical Observations(CP215, 1984; reissued on CD as CP2115

19. JamesPritchett, Cage'sChanceMusic:AnAnalytical

lishedin 1993,performedbyJoan La Barbaraand the San Francisco

Stephen Druryhas made a number of recordings,several of whichwere

etudes withsuch skillthathe was inspiredto complete the project.

Opera (Mode 38/39, 1995), is particularlystrikingin this regard. Here,

21. SeeJohnCage,Europeras 3 à? 4, LongBeachOpera (Mode 38/39,1995).The Wagnertranscrip-

ideal performance, butitmakesit possibleto heartheworks.In spiteof

his importance to twentieth-century and contemporarymusic, it also

Indeed,technological advanceshaveenabledindividualsto producean

. Chorals;CheapImitation.Paul Zukofsky.Musical ObservationsCP2

. Concerto Piano and Chamber

. One7[fromOne13];One8.OgreOsress 643157358725, 2001.

. TheSeasons.MargaretLeng Tan. AmericanComposersOrches-

László Vidovszky,László Sáry, Barnabas Dukay. Hungaroton SLPD

Cage, John and Lejaren Hiller. HPSCHD. Antoinette Vischer, Neely

Hildegardvon Bingen.Komponisten composer Hildegard of Bingen has re-

You might also like