PROGRAMME NOTES
2 November 2005
John Cage’s “Sonatas and Interludes" for solo prepared piano
John Cage (1902 – 1992) has been called one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century, a “pioneer” and “father” of American avant-garde music. Sixty years separate his first composition ("Untitled," 1931) from the last ("Two," 1992); in between, Cage created an immense body of musical works, some of which established principles, such as the use of noise, silence, chance, indeterminacy, graphic notation and tape recorder composition, as well as performance practice involving gesture, words and live electronics, to be later explored by many significant composers of the last century. Cage’s ideas triggered developments not only in music, but also in the performing and visual arts.
The Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano solo, written between 1946 and 1948, are considered to be Cage’s major work for prepared piano and one of the major works in his oeuvre. The 70-minute cycle, dedicated to the pianist Maro Ajemian, was written when Cage first became seriously aware of Oriental Philosophy. After reading the work of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, the composer decided to attempt the expression in music of the “permanent emotions” of Indian traditions: the four “light moods” (the Erotic, the Heroic, the Wondrous and the Comic) and the four “dark” ones (the Odious, the Furious, the Terrible and the Pathetic) and their common tendency towards Tranquility.
The piece consists of 16 Sonatas and four Interludes. Sonatas I-VIII and XII-XVI are in simple AABB form (A-repeat, B-repeat, much like a Scarlatti sonata); the first two Interludes are composed-through. Sonatas IX-XI and the last two Interludes have a prelude-interlude-postlude structure. Within their simple structures lies extraordinary rhythmic subtlety, which has roots in Indian music (where rhythm is a structural element).
Cage gives no indication whatsoever as to the nine emotions’ relations to particular sonatas or interludes. This is left to the performer’s imagination and the listener’s perception. We can, however, trace the “common tendency towards tranquility” from Sonata XIII onwards, achieved through the use of slower tempos, narrow dynamic range and the scarcity of expressive gestures such as crescendo, accelerando and tempo rubato.
The piece comes with a table of preparation that indicates the exact placement of metal bolts, screws, nuts, pieces of rubber, plastic, an eraser etc. The objects are inserted between the strings of a grand piano (preferably a Steinway from the 1950s), thus muting them and producing sounds reminiscent of Javanese gamelan, skin drums and bells. The dynamic amplitude of the piano is significantly reduced, compared by Cage to that of a harpsichord.
Sonatas XIV and XV are called "Gemini," after the installation by American artist Richard Lippold, currently displayed in the lobby of Jones Hall, Houston, Texas; it comprises two “floating” constructions, consisting of thousands of metal rods, suspended in mid-air on piano strings.
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