[Untitled]
Medium: any instruments having specific ranges
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Date: August 8-September 13, 1931
First performance: none (never performed)
Sources: Paris?, estate of Don Sample
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1961h, 234-235; Cage 1991c, ***; Cage/Duckworth 1989, 16.
[Untitled]
Medium: unknown
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Date: 1934?, while studying with Henry Cowell in New York
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none.
[Untitled]
Description: exercises in counterpoint for no specific instruments
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Date: between 1935-1937
Sources: Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 7, folder 4; New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 18; Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg Institute
Publication: facs. of one exercise in Begegnung
mit Arnold Schnberg, ed. Margret Jestremski, Ernst Hilmar. Duisburg: Stadt
Duisburg, 1993, 26.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment (possibly belonging to Marriage at the Eiffel Tower)
Medium: percussion
Date: between 1935-1943
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 903.
[Untitled]
Medium: two violins, viola, and violoncello
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Date: 1936
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Cage/Kirby and Schechner 1965, 59; Boehmer 1967b, 173.
[Untitled]
Description: music for an aquatic ballet
Medium: instrumentation unknown, but including water gongs
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Commission: University of California, Los Angeles, Physical Education Department
Date: prior to July 2, 1938
First performance: July 2, 1938
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1961h, 86.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment (possibly belonging to Marriage at the Eiffel Tower)
Medium: two pianos
Date: circa 1939
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 47.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: two prepared pianos
Date: between 1944-1948, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 904.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified notes (possibly belonging to Three Dances)
Medium: two prepared pianos
Date: between 1944-1949, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 905.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified worksheets, possibly belonging to Williams Mix or Works of
Calder
Medium: magnetic tape
Date: circa 1952, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 906.
[Untitled]
Medium: piano?
Date: between 1951-1962, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 908.
[Untitled]
Note: known as
Black Mountain Piece;
also known as Theatre Piece No. 1
Text: indeterminate
Medium: ***concerted action involving paintings, dance, three speaking voices reading
poetry or lectures, dance, film and slide projections, gramophone recordings,
radios, piano music
Extent: unknown
Duration: 45 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: August 1952
First performance: August 1952
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 172
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1959g; Cage 1961h, x; Cage/Charles 1976, 44, 165-167; Cage/Kirby
and Schechner 1965, 52-53, 55; Cage/Kostelanetz 1968WE/1970, 27; Cage/Raymond
and Roberts 1980, 9-10; Fetterman 1996a, 97-104; Goldberg, R. 1978; Miller, L.E. 2002a; Thorman 2002, 36, 38, 65.
Unidentified work for
magnetic tape using feedback noise
Date: circa 1953
Sources: present location unknown
Literature: Eimert 1953.
Unfinished work for
magnetic tape
Date: circa 1953
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 907.
[Untitled]
Description: unfinished work
Medium: magnetic tape
Date: 1953?, unfinished
Sources: Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073** box 1, folder 2; New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 909
Literature: Pritchett 1988a, 261-271.
[Untitled]
Medium: voice
Date: 1953, unfinished
Sources: Dsseldorf, estate of Joseph Beuys; New York, Public Library, JPB
94-24 folder 1075
Literature: Pritchett 1988a, 271-274.
[Untitled]
Description: sound sculpture for the Lippold Room at Pan Am Building, New York
Date: 1961-1962, unfinished
Note: since sculptor Richard Lippold refused to exhibit his golden cobweb in
the Pan Am Building [now Grand Central Building] until the background music was
removed, Cage designed a sound and image sculpture in which the background
music was combined with the sounds of the electronic surveillance cameras; the
project was cancelled, however, when the Pan Am Building authorities agreed to
switch off the background music
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 910
Literature: Ericson 1962; Revill 1992, 202.
[Untitled]
Medium: harpsichord
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: for Antoinette Vischer (1909-1973)
Date: 1969 or earlier
First performance: unknown
Sources: Basle, Paul Sacher Stiftung
Publication: none.
[Untitled]
Medium: piano?
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: for Joan
Mir
Date: circa 1970
First performance: unknown
Sources: Barcelona, estate of Joan Mir (fair copy)
Publication: none.
[Untitled]
Medium: organ
Date: unknown, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 902.
Unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: circa 1972
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 919.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment for orchestra
Date: circa 1972
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 911 (notes, 1 leaf, 22 x 28
cm, unmarked vellum paper, blue ballpoint ink).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: circa 1972 or thereafter
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 912 (draft, 2 leaves, 28
cm, 1 leaf white paper, 1 leaf blue paper, ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: between 1972-1985
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 913 (notes, 1 leaf, 28 cm,
vellum paper, ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Choreography: Charles Atlas and Merce Cunningham, Westbeth
Medium: piano?
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Date: fall 1974
First performance: February 14, 1975
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none.
[Untitled]
Medium: for violin? possibly belonging to Freeman
Etudes or Chorals
Date: between 1977 and 1980, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 916. [Untitled] (sketches, 2
leaves, 32 x 24 cm, 10-stave vellum music paper, King Brand No. D2, pencil,
colored pencil, and ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment possibly belonging to Freeman Etudes
Medium: violin?
Date: between 1977 and 1989
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder *** (notes, 1 leaf, 28 cm,
white paper, pencil, colored pencil, and ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Description: contribution to Miloslav CÕerný, Wisdom Is Passing, Stupidity Is Eternal
Medium: flute
Date: after March 26, 1979
Sources: Kyjov, collection Miloslav CÕerný
Publication: none.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: circa 1988-1989
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 920.
[Etudes]
Medium: recorder
Dedication: for Pete Rose
Date: circa 1980
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 915 (notes, 1 leaf, 28 cm,
white paper, ballpoint).
Literature: Cage/Harrison 1980, 6; Rothstein 1981a.
[Untitled]
Medium: at least 8, possibly 12 sound systems (lp playbacks with at least 12
records of good dance music [popular, rock, etc.], amplifiers, loudspeakers)
arranged around the stage and to be operated by the dancers
Date: May 19, 1982
First performance: November 6, 1982
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: Cage 1982LETTER
Literature: none.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: between 1982 and 1992
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 1076 (sketch, 1 leaf, 43 x
28 cm, unmarked music paper, ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: circa 1984?, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 918
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: circa 1984?, unfinished
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 926
[Untitled]
Medium: installation in empty S.N.C.F. [French railways] container with
amplified sounds from outside the container
Note: possibly identical with Silent
Environment
Date: prior to March 21, 1985
First performance: March 21-May 20, 1985
Sources: present location unknown
Literature: Declerq 1985.
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: between 1988 and 1992
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 921 (sketch, 5 leaves, 28
cm, vellum music paper, ballpoint).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified fragment
Medium: unknown
Date: between 1989 and 1992
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 923 (notes, 1 folder and 4
leaves, folder 23 x 30 cm, file folder, Oxford # 752 1/3, 4 leaves 28 cm, white
paper, ballpoint and print-out).
[Untitled]
Description: unidentified sketch
Medium: trombone and percussion
Date: between 1991 and 1992
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 924 (notes, 1 leaf, 28 cm,
white paper, ballpoint and print-out).
[Untitled]
Medium: piano
Commission: Yvar Mikhashoff, Anthony De Mare, and Stephen Drury (to be funded by
the National Endowment for the Arts)
Date: 1992, never begun.
Sources: none
Publication: none.
0'00"
Medium: a performer using amplification to present any disciplined action
Note: alternative title: 4'33"
No. 2; third of a group of works of which Atlas Eclipticalis is the first and Variations IV is the second; included in Song Books as Solo for Voice 8; 0'00" No.
2 and 0'00" No.
2B are Solos for Voice 23 and 26, respectively
Extent: six sentences
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: for Yoko Ono and Toshi Ichiyanagi
Date: October 24-25, 1962
First performance: October 24, 1962
Sources: present location unknown, private collection; New York, Public
Library, JPB 94-24 folder 285
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1962 (Peters; 6796); draft (private
collection) in Wortlaut, ed. Christel
Schppenhauer. Kln: Galerie Schppenhauer, 1989, 94
Literature: Cage 1964b, 143; Cage/Bodin and Johnson [and Deborah Hay]
1965BANDINTERVJU/1988, 69-70; Cage/Charles 1976, 210-211; Cage/Retallack
1996, 199; Fetterman 1996, 84-90;
Griffiths 1981a, Cage, 39, 43; Kostelanetz 1970d, 143;
Kostelanetz 1988b, 69, 193; Pritchett 1993, 138-140,
144, 146-149, 150, 153, 155-156, 167; Rivest 1996a, 96-114.
0'00" No. 2
Medium: two or more performers playing a game on a playing area (table or
board) amplified with contact microphones
Extent: 1 sentence
Duration: indeterminate
Date: 1968
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: as "Solo for Voice 23." In John Cage, Song Books. New York: Henmar Press, 1970, 87 (Peters; 6806a)
Literature: none.
1'1/2" for a String Player. See 26'1.1499"
for a String Player.
1'5 1/2" for a String Player. See 26'1.1499"
for a String Player.
1'14" for a String Player. See 26'1.1499"
for a String Player.
1'18" for a String Player. See 26'1.1499"
for a String Player.
4'33"
Note: title changes to be that of the actual time-length of the performance
Medium: any instrument or combination of instruments (environmental sounds);
various notations; various versions: different number of movements; without
instruments (1971-1972 and 1986***)
Extent: instructions for performance (4 sentences); I (1 system); II (1
system); III (1 system) [conventional notation]; version in proportional
notation***
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: for Irwin Kremen
Date: August 1952
First performance: August 29, 1952
Sources: Durham, North Carolina, collection Dr. Irwin
Kremen; Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 4 folder 4; New York,
Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 171
Publication: in Source: Music of the Avant
Garde 1, no. 2 (July 1967), 46-54; repr. New York: Henmar Press, 1993
(Peters; 6777a) [proportional notation]; New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters;
6777); in Kuhn, R. and Kreutz 1991, 142-143 [conventional notation]
Literature: Bauer, J. 2002; Betz 1999; Borum 1982-1983; Brooks, W. 2007; Cage 1961h, 98n; Cage 1962e, 25; Cage 1970d, 118; Cage 1990f, 19-27;
Cage 1991c, 67; Cage 1993d, 43, 52, 109, 155, 243; Cage, Kremen, and Tudor/Austin 1967; Cage,
Shattuck, and Gillmor 1982, 24; Cage/Charles 1976, 210; Cage/Duckworth 1989,
21-22; Cage/Goldberg 1976, 105; Cage/Kirby and Schechner 1965, 64; Cage/Kobler
1968?CHECK/1988, 65; Cage/Kostelanetz 1968WE/1970, 12, 20; Cage/Raymond and
Roberts 1980, 9; Cage/Retallack 1996, 77, 112, 136; Cage/Reynolds 1962CHECK/1962, 51; Cage/Sweeney-Turner 1991, 3; Cage/White, R. 1978, 6; Campbell,
Mark R. 1992; Charles 1983a; De Visscher 1989b; De Visscher 1992b; Duckworth 1972, 99-101, 113, 115, 116; Emmerik, P. van 1998b; Erdmann 1993f, 51-52;
Fetterman 1996, 69-84; Gann 2010; Gligo 1971; Gligo 1998; Goehr, L. 1992, 264-265; Griffiths
1981a, 1, 28, 33, 36, 45; Gutmann
1999; Henck 1985b; Kahn, D.
1997a; Kepler 1982, 18-34; Kostelanetz 1969INFERENTIAL/1970, 106n, 107-108; Kostelanetz
1970d, 20, 118; Kostelanetz 1988b, 65-67, 81-82, 100, 105, 188, 206, 216; Kresky 1994; Mche 1988; Maier, T.M. 2001a; Maier,
T.M. 2002; Metzger, H.-K. 1998; Montague
1982; Naglia 1989-1990; Nyman 1974, 2, 3, 22-23, 29, 41, 51; Orem 2000; Pritchett
1993, 2, 25, 59-60, 69, 145, 206n11; Rivest 1996a, 96-114; Shultis
1995; Solomon 1998; Sontag 1969a; Thorman 2002, 21, 22,
23, 154, 155, 156, 160, 203, 216;
Tielebier-Langenscheidt 1979; Toop 1968, 10-11; Tudor/Oehlschlgel 1997, 69-70; Vaes 2009, 755; Veselinović-Hofman
1998; Villasol 1992; Wagner, M.
1982.
4'33" No. 2. See 0'00".
26'1.1499" for a String Player
Note: incorporates five short works composed in 1953: 57 1/2" for a String Player, 34-38, 1'5 1/2" for a String Player, 39-43, 1'1/2" for a String
Player, 44-48, 1'18" for a
String Player, 49-53, and 1'14"
for a String Player, 54-58
Medium: violin, viola, violoncello, or contrabass ad libitum with auxiliary
instruments***[list]; may be performed with 27'10.554"
for a Percussionist, 31'57.9864"
for a Pianist, 34'46.776" for a
Pianist, and 45' for a Speaker [text],
as a solo or ensemble for any combination of pianists, string players, percussionists,
and a speaker; the title to be appropriately changed to indicate the length in
minutes and seconds and decimal fractions of the latter, and the
instrumentalists involved
Extent: 85 systems
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: for June Herman (57 1/2"
for a String Player), Broadus Erle (1'5
1/2" for a String Player), Matthew Raimondi (1'1/2" for a String Player), Seymour Barab (1'18" for a String Player), Walter
Trampler (1'14" for a String Player)
and to Harold Coletta (26'1.1499"
for a String Player)
Date: May 1953 (57 1/2" for a
String Player) and June 14, 1953 (1'5
1/2" for a String Player), June 28, 1953 (1'1/2" for a String Player), June 29, 1953 (1'18" for a String Player), June
30, 1953 (1'14" for a String Player)
and August-September 1955 (26'1.1499"
for a String Player)
First performance: October 15, 1955
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 193-195, 954-955
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6779)
Literature: Cage 1961e, 147n; Cage 1961h, 146-147, 156-157; Cage 1962e, 26; Cage
1979c, 8-9; Cage 1993d, 55, 56, 119, 156; Cage/Charles 1976, 34, 50; Charles 1970a; Griffiths 1981a, 30-33; Pritchett 1988a, 242-261, 285-290; Thorman
2002, 40.
27'10.554" for a Percussionist
Note: earlier title 7'7.614" for
a Percussionist
Medium: percussionist using any instruments from the categories metal, wood,
skin, others; pre-recorded tape may be used to assist in the performance
Note: may be performed in whole or part, with or without 45' for a Speaker [text], 34'46.776" for a Pianist, 31'57.9864" for a Pianist, and 26'1.1499" for a String-Player, as
a solo or ensemble for any combination of pianists, string players,
percussionists, and a speaker; the title to be appropriately changed to
indicate the length in minutes and seconds and decimal fractions of the latter,
and the instrumentalists involved
Extent: 109 systems
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: none
Date: completed January 14, 1956
First performance: February 2, 1962
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 211-213, 957
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6778)
Literature: Cage 1961h, 146-147; Cage 1962e, 26; Cage 1979c, 8-9; Cage 1993d, 55, 56,
119; Cage/Charles 1976, 34, 50;
Charles 1970a; Cudd 1998;
Griffiths 1981a, 30-33; OÕConnor, G.A. 1966; Pritchett 1988a, 291-301; Ranta 1969; Thorman
2002, 40.
31'57.9864" for a Pianist
Medium: prepared piano and indeterminate sound sources (whistles, vocal
noises, percussion instruments)
Note: to be performed in whole or part, with or without 45' for a Speaker [text], 34'46.776"
for a pianist, 27'10.554" for a
Percussionist, and 26'1.1499"
for a String-Player, as a solo or ensemble for any combination up to two
pianists, five string players, percussionist, and speaker; the title to be appropriately
changed to indicate the length in minutes and seconds and decimal fractions of
the latter, and the instrumentalists involved; ***Ōmay be played alone or in
combination, and in whole or in part, the title to be appropriately changed to
indicate time in minutes and seconds and the instrumentalists involvedĶ (score
of the piece for string player) [maximum number of perf.***]
Extent: 69 systems
Duration: indeterminate between *** and maximum 31 minutes and 57.9864 seconds
Date: 1954
First performance: October 17, 1954
Commission: Donaueschinger Musiktage
Dedication: for Paul Williams and Vera Williams
Sources: Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 6 folder 4-5,
940073** rolls 4-6; New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 201
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6780)
Literature: Cage 1959h/1970, 76; Cage 1961h, 146-147, 153, 156; Cage 1962e, 26-27;
Cage 1973d, [vii]; Cage 1979c, 8-9; Cage 1993d, 54, 119; Cage/Charles 1976, 43; Cage/Kirby and
Schechner 1965, 61; Charles 1970a; Griffiths 1981a, 30-33; Pritchett 1988a, 274-285; Thorman
2002, 40.
33 1/3
Medium: ***at least twelve record players possibly to be operated by the
audience and a large number of records
Extent: *** sentences
Duration: indeterminate
Date: 1969 in Davis, California [revised in 1986***ME]
First performance: November 21, 1969
Sources: Budapest, collection Andrs Wilheim
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1980b; Cage/Charles 1976, 169-170; Cage/Helms 1972[TAPE 59];
Dinwiddie 1970; Hosokawa 1993; Thorman 2002, 94; Zeller 1978, 116.
34'46.776" for a Pianist
Note: title to be appropriately changed to indicate the length in minutes
and seconds and decimal fractions of the latter, and the instrumentalists
involved
Medium: prepared piano and indeterminate sound sources (for example whistles,
vocal noises, percussion instruments)
Note: ***combinations: 31, 26, 27 and 45Õ for a Speaker
Extent: 174 systems
Duration: indeterminate between *** and 34 minutes and 47 seconds
Commission: Donaueschinger Musiktage
Dedication: for Paul Williams and Vera Williams
Date: 1954
First performance: October 17, 1954
Sources: Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 6 folder 1-3,
940073** rolls 1-3; New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 201-202
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6781)
Literature: Cage 1959h/1970, 76; Cage 1961h, 146-147, 153, 156; Cage 1962e, 26-27;
Cage 1973d, [vii]; Cage 1979c, 8-9; Cage 1993d, 55, 119; Cage/Charles 1976, 43; Cage/Darter 1982, 22;
Cage/Kirby and Schechner 1965, 61; Charles 1970a; Frst-Heidtmann 1979,
229-245; Griffiths 1981a, 30-33; Kostelanetz 1970d, 76; Kostelanetz 1988b, 67, 108; Pritchett 1988a, 274-285; Pritchett
1993, 100-102, 109; Thorman 2002, 40-41.
49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs
Medium: any number of performers or listeners or record makers; transcriptions
may be made for other cities (or places) by assembling through chance
operations a list of 147 addresses and then, also through chance operations,
arranging these in groups of three
Extent: 147 addresses (first version); map (second version)
Duration: indeterminate
Commission: on the occasion of the move of Rolling
Stone to New York
Date: completed November 22, 1977 (first version); and prior to October 6,
1977 (second version)
First performance: November 21, 1977
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 547-551
Publication: Rolling Stone no. 249
(October 6, 1977), 39 (second version); in Waltzes
by 25 Contemporary Composers. New York [etc.]: C.F. Peters Corporation,
1978, 15-17 (Peters; 66735) (first
version).
52/3
Choreography: Merce Cunningham, Landrover
Medium: indeterminate music for three musicians performing in
succession
Extent: unknown
Duration: 52 minutes
Date: 1972
First performance: February 1, 1972
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Miller, L.E. 2002a, 165; Thorman 2002, 117;
Vaughan 1997, 182-183, 295.
57 1/2" for a String Player. See 26'1.1499"
for a String Player.
59 1/2" for a String Player
Medium: violin, viola, violoncello, or contrabass, to be used as a solo or
ensemble for any combination of pianists, string players, [percussionists] and
***45' for a Speaker
Extent: 5 systems
Duration: 59.5 seconds
Dedication: for Claus Adam (1917-1983)
Date: July 2, 1953
First performance: presumably May 7, 1962
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 193-194, 196, 956
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6776)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 26; Cage 1993d, 54; Griffiths 1981a, 30; Pritchett 1988a, 242-261.
1O1
Note: title is
to be spelled with capital ŌOĶ
Medium:
orchestra consisting of piccolo, two flutes, alto flute, three oboes, English
horn, three clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet in B flat, three bassoons,
contrabassoon, six horns in F, four trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, bass
trombone, tuba, four percussionists playing bullroarer (player 1), bullroarer
and seven angklungs (player 2), bullroarer and piano (player 3), bullroarer and
four contrabass marimbas (player 4), timpani (medium, small), piano, harp,
eighteen violins I, sixteen violins II, eleven violas, eleven violoncellos,
eight contrabasses
Extent:
instructions for performance (40 sentences); piccolo (2 systems), flute 1 (4
systems), flute 2 (2 systems), alto flute (7 systems), oboe 1 (2 systems), oboe
2 (2 systems), oboe 3 (2 systems), English horn (2 systems), clarinet 1 (7
systems), clarinet 2 (2 systems), clarinet 3 (6 systems), bass clarinet (2
systems), bassoon 1 (2 systems), bassoon 2 (2 systems), bassoon 3 (2 systems),
contrabassoon (2 systems), horn 1 in F (2 systems), horn 2 in F (2 systems),
horn 3 in F (2 systems), horn 4 in F (2 systems), horn 5 in F (2 systems), horn
6 in F (2 systems), trumpet 1 in C (2 systems), trumpet 2 in C (2 systems),
trumpet 3 in C (2 systems), trumpet 4 in C (2 systems), trombone 1 (2 systems),
trombone 2 (2 systems), bass trombone (2 systems), tuba (2 systems), percussion
1 (1 system), percussion 2 (2 systems), percussion 3 (2 systems), percussion 4
(2 systems), timpani (2 systems), piano (12 systems), harp (12 systems), violin
I-1 (1 system), violin I-2 (10 systems), violin I-3 (7 systems), violin I-4 (5
systems), violin I-5 (8 systems), violin I-6 (8 systems), violin I-7 (4
systems), violin I-8 (8 systems), violin I-9 (6 systems), violin I-10 (5
systems), violin I-11 (5 systems), violin I-12 (1 system), violin I-13 (5
systems), violin I-14 (2 systems), violin I-15 (6 systems), violin I-16 (7
systems), violin I-17 (5 systems), violin I-18 (7 systems), violin II-1 (5
systems), violin II-2 (5 systems), violin II-3 (7 systems), violin II-4 (5
systems), violin II-5 (7 systems), violin II-6 (1 system), violin II-7 (3
systems), violin II-8 (9 systems), violin II-9 (6 systems), violin II-10 (4
systems), violin II-11 (7 systems), violin II-12 (5 systems), violin II-13 (5
systems), violin II-14 (7 systems), violin II-15 (1 system), violin II-16 (4
systems), viola 1 (7 systems), viola 2 (7 systems), viola 3 (5 systems), viola
4 (3 systems), viola 5 (8 systems), viola 6 (9 systems), viola 7 (4 systems),
viola 8 (5 systems), viola 9 (3 systems), viola 10 (6 systems), viola 11 (6
systems), violoncello 1 (6 systems), violoncello 2 (5 systems), violoncello 3
(5 systems), violoncello 4 (8 systems), violoncello 5 (1 system), violoncello 6
(9 systems), violoncello 7 (6 systems), violoncello 8 (8 systems), violoncello
9 (5 systems), violoncello 10 (2 systems), violoncello 11 (2 systems),
contrabass 1 (4 systems), contrabass 2 (7 systems), contrabass 3 (8 systems),
contrabass 4 (2 systems), contrabass 5 (3 systems), contrabass 6 (7 systems),
contrabass 7 (5 systems), contrabass 8 (7 systems)
Duration: approximately 12 minutes
Commission: Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard
University
Dedication:
Date: between July 3-November 1988
First performance: April 6, 1989
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 779-780, 1070-1071
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1989 (Peters; 67265)
Literature: Cage, John 1988-1989; Cage 1993d, 197-199,
246; Dyer 1989a; Erdmann 1992e;
Swed 1993a.
103
Medium:
orchestra consisting of four flutes (flute 3 doubling on piccolo, flute 4
doubling on alto flute), four oboes (oboe 3 and 4 doubling on English horns),
four clarinets in B flat (clarinet 4 doubling on bass clarinet), four bassoons
(bassoon 4 doubling on contrabassoon), four horns in F, four trumpets in C, four
tenor trombones (tenor trombone 4 doubling on bass trombone), tuba, two
percussionists (each using any nine instruments), two timpani players, violins
I, violins II, violas, violoncellos, and contrabasses (strings in any number of
each kind but totalling seventy players); may be performed with One11
[film]
Extent:
instructions for performance (17 sentences, 1 table); flute 1 (42 systems),
flute 2 (45 systems), flute 3 (42 systems), flute 4 (45 systems), oboe 1 (44
systems), oboe 2 (40 systems), oboe 3 (37 systems), oboe 4 (46 systems),
clarinet 1 (39 systems), clarinet 2 (39 systems), clarinet 3 (38 systems),
clarinet 4 (47 systems), bassoon 1 (44 systems), bassoon 2 (40 systems),
bassoon 3 (35 systems), bassoon 4/ contrabassoon (44 systems), horn 1 (38 systems),
horn 2 (33 systems), horn 3 (32 systems), horn 4 (47 systems), trumpet 1 (38
systems), trumpet 2 (39 systems), trumpet 3 (38 systems), trumpet 4 (38
systems), trombone 1 (35 systems), trombone 2 (41 systems), trombone 3 (36
systems), trombone 4 (40 systems), tuba (36 systems), timpani 1 (81 systems),
timpani 2 (78 systems), percussion 1 (84 systems), percussion 2 (77 systems),
violins I (80 systems), violins II (82 systems), violas (85 systems),
violoncellos (78 systems), contrabasses (85 systems)
Duration: between
89 minutes and 30 seconds and 90 minutes
Dedication: for Henning Lohner, Wolfgang Becker-Carsten and the Klner
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester
Date: September 1991, New York
First performance: September 19, 1992, Cologne, Philharmonie,
Klner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Arturo Tamayo, director
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 878-882
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67433)
Literature: Cage 1992d; Cage 1992f; Cage 1993d, 202;
Cage/Retallack 1996, 192; Frobenius 1999; Metzger, H.-K. 1992d; Tamayo 1992.
108
Medium: orchestra consisting of piccolo, two flutes,
alto flute, three oboes, two English horns, three clarinets in B flat, two bass
clarinets, three bassoons, two contrabassoons, seven horns in F, five trumpets
in C, three tenor trombones, two bass trombones, tuba, five percussionists each
using any four different, very resonant instruments, eighteen violins I,
sixteen violins II, twelve violas, twelve violoncellos, and eight contrabasses
Note: may be performed simultaneously with One8, One9 or Two3
Extent:
instructions for performance (19 sentences); piccolo (9 systems), flute 1 (13
systems), flute 2 (15 systems), alto flute (12 systems), oboe 1 (11 systems),
oboe 2 (12 systems), oboe 3 (16 systems), English horn 1 (10 systems), English
horn 2 (13 systems), clarinet 1 (9 systems), clarinet 2 (12 systems), clarinet
3 (13 systems), bass clarinet 1 (14 systems), bass clarinet 2 (10 systems),
bassoon 1 (12 systems), bassoon 2 (12 systems), bassoon 3 (12 systems),
contrabassoon 1 (12 systems), contrabassoon 2 (16 systems), horn 1 in F (15
systems), horn 2 in F (10 systems), horn 3 in F (15 systems), horn 4 in F (11
systems), horn 5 in F (14 systems), horn 6 in F (13 systems), horn 7 in F (10
systems), trumpet 1 in C (12 systems), trumpet 2 in C (11 systems), trumpet 3
in C (10 systems), trumpet 4 in C (13 systems), trumpet 5 in C (10 systems),
tenor trombone 1 (13 systems), tenor trombone 2 (14 systems), tenor trombone 3
(12 systems), bass trombone 1 (11 systems), bass trombone 2 (11 systems), tuba
(14 systems), percussion 1 (12 systems), percussion 2 (10 systems), percussion
3 (14 systems), percussion 4 (11 systems), percussion 5 (14 systems), violin
I-1 (10 systems), violin I-2 (11 systems), violin I-3 (13 systems), violin I-4
(12 systems), violin I-5 (16 systems), violin I-6 (13 systems), violin I-7 (12
systems), violin I-8 (14 systems), violin I-9 (14 systems), violin I-10 (12
systems), violin I-11 (13 systems), violin I-12 (14 systems), violin I-13 (9
systems), violin I-14 (11 systems), violin I-15 (13 systems), violin I-16 (12
systems), violin I-17 (12 systems), violin I-18 (11 systems), violin II-1 (10
systems), violin II-2 (12 systems), violin II-3 (13 systems), violin II-4 (15
systems), violin II-5 (12 systems), violin II-6 (13 systems), violin II-7 (14
systems), violin II-8 (10 systems), violin II-9 (14 systems), violin II-10 (9
systems), violin II-11 (12 systems), violin II-12 (11 systems), violin II-13
(11 systems), violin II-14 (13 systems), violin II-15 (15 systems), violin
II-16 (11 systems), viola 1 (14 systems), viola 2 (10 systems), viola 3 (11
systems), viola 4 (13 systems), viola 5 (12 systems), viola 6 (14 systems),
viola 7 (13 systems), viola 8 (14 systems), viola 9 (11 systems), viola 10 (13
systems), viola 11 (14 systems), viola 12 (13 systems), violoncello 1 (12
systems), violoncello 2 (15 systems), violoncello 3 (11 systems), violoncello 4
(14 systems), violoncello 5 (13 systems), violoncello 6 (11 systems),
violoncello 7 (13 systems), violoncello 8 (12 systems), violoncello 9 (11
systems), violoncello 10 (11 systems), violoncello 11 (14 systems), violoncello
12 (11 systems), contrabass 1 (13 systems), contrabass 2 (10 systems),
contrabass 3 (13 systems), contrabass 4 (10 systems), contrabass 5 (12
systems), contrabass 6 (11 systems), contrabass 7 (11 systems), contrabass 8
(11 systems)
Duration: 43 minutes and 30 seconds
Commission: Sddeutscher Rundfunk
Dedication: for the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Date: April 1991
First performance: November 30, 1991
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 841, 855, 883-885
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67414)
Literature: Cage 1993d, 202-203; Cage/Retallack 1996, 264; Jahn 1991.
Ad Lib
Choreography: Merce Cunningham and Jean Erdman
Note: the music for this choreography was originally written by Gregory
Tucker (1942), and later replaced with the music of Cage
Medium: piano
Extent: 98 measures
Duration: approximately 3 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: prior to February 14, 1943
First performance: February 14, 1943
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 92-94
Publication: in Works for Piano,
Prepared Piano and Toy Piano, Volume 4 (1933-1952), ed. Margaret Leng
Tan. New York: Henmar Press,
2004, pp. 12-16 (Peters; 68030)
Literature: none.
Address
Medium: for three groups of musicians performing Erik SatieÕs Musique dÕameublement, five performers
at a conference table, each operating a cassette machine and any number of
pre-recorded cassette tapes (this constitutes the composition Cassette), as well as twelve
record-players and any number of records to be operated by the audience, and an
electric bell
Extent: unknown
Duration: 45 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1977
First performance: December 7, 1977
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Hamm et al. 1980; Rushefsky 1977b; Thorman 2002, 94.
Alla ricerca del silenzio perduto
Medium: prepared train
Subtitle: three excursions in a prepared train; variations on a theme by Tito
Gotti (with the assistance of Walter Marchetti and Juan Hidalgo)
Extent: 30 sentences
Duration: indeterminate
Commission: Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Dedication: for Tito Gotti
Date: December 1977
First performance: June 26-28, 1978
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 543
Publication: unauthorized ed. As Cage 1979a. In Nino Monastra, Il treno di John Cage = CageÕs train = Le train the Cage. Bologna:
Grafis e Fylkingen (Le trasgressioni; 2), 1979, 23-31
Literature: Block 1980SUMME; Cage 1979a; Cage 1979q; Cage/Anonymous 1977; Cage/Degli
Esposti 1977; Charles 1978a; Farabet 1978; Gotti 1979; Gotti/Monastra and
Veggi 1979; Hosokawa 1985; Monastra 1979; Prato 2003.
Allemande
Medium: clarinet in B flat
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: none
Date: late summer 1934
First performance: spring 1935
Sources: present location unknown (probably lost)
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1961h, 234; George, W.B. 1971, 47; Kopp 1981, 145.
America Was Promises
Text: Archibald MacLeish, 1939
Choreography: Bonnie Bird
Medium: narrator and (presumably) piano four hands (or two pianos)
Extent: 1. Of Voyage; 2. Of Discovery; 3. Of The Land; 4. Of Corruption; 5. Of
Westward Movement; 6. Of Building; 7. Of Restlessness; 8. Of Realization; 9. Of
Declaration
Duration: 40 minutes
Date: 1940
First performance: May 7, 1940
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none.
Amores
Medium: prepared piano and three percussionists using three graduated tom
toms, three graduated woodblocks (player 1); three graduated tom toms, pod
rattle, two graduated woodblocks (player 2); three graduated tom toms, two
graduated woodblocks (player 3)
Note: the title derives from Edward Estlin Cummings, Tulips and Chimneys, 1923, section ÔAmoresÕ (XI poems); (3)
incorporated [with modifications] from third movement of Trio (circa 1936)
Extent: I. Solo (15 measures); II. Trio (100 measures); III. Trio (33
measures); IV. Solo (100 measures)
Duration: approximately 9 minutes
Dedication: for Rue Shaw
Date: January-February 1943
First performance: February 7, 1943
Sources: New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, Mary Flagler Cary Collection, Cary
311; New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 95-97, 936
Publication: in New Music: A Quarterly of
Modern Compositions 16, no. 4 (July 1943), 1-12; repr. New York: Henmar
Press, 1960 (Peters; 6264); New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6264p)
[pocket score]
Literature: Cage 1962e, 15, 33; Cage 1982r; Cage 1993d, 9, 39, 40,
67, 68; DeLio 2009; Griffiths 1981a, 4, 20; Fischer,
R.K. 1974; Frst-Heidtmann 1979,
160-175; Kostelanetz 1988b, 59, 108; McPhee 1943-1944; Minor 1977; MM 1978 or after; Moore, T.D. 1987; Parris 1961-1962;
Pritchett 1993, 22, 24, 27; Schick 1995; Welsh 1987-1988; Williams, B.M. 1990,
28-61.
And the Earth Shall
Bear Again
Choreography: Valerie
Bettis
Medium: prepared
piano
Extent: 112
measures
Duration:
approximately 3 minutes and 15 seconds
Dedication: for
Valerie Bettis
Date: November
1942
First performance: December
6, 1942
Sources: New
York, Public Library, JPB 86-7 no. 19; JPB 94-24 folder 66-68
Publication: New
York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6811); repr. in John Cage, Prepared Piano Music Volume 1: 1940-47.
New York: Henmar Press, 2000, 18-24 (Peters; 67886a)
Literature: Hilger
1990, 41-47.
Apartment House 1776
Text: indeterminate
Medium: four voices (ad libitum on magnetic tape), any number of musicians
using any suitable melody or keyboard instruments (clarinet, violoncello, and
any drum ad libitum); Protestant, Sephardic, and American Indian songs, and
Negro calls and hollars (live or recorded); may be performed with Renga to be substituted by a
ÔmusicircusÕ (live or recorded) appropriate to another occasion than the
Bi-Centennial of the U.S.A. When the right to play music is not granted by a
copyright owner, monophonic imitations in the manner either of Cheap Imitation or four-part imitations
in the manner of Apartment House 1776 (Harmonies
I, II, III, etc.) may be composed
Model: for Tunes: Anonymous, Barrel of
Sugar (VII); The Beggar Boy (II); La belle Catherine (III);
Lovely Nancy (IV); New New Nothing (XI); Over the River to Charley (VI); Rural Felicity (XIV); Saraband (VIII); Singlings of JohnsonÕs Troop (IX); Stone Grinds All (XII); Succesful
Campaign (X); Upon a SummerÕs Day
(I); The White Cockade (XIII); Young
Widow (V); for Harmonies: Supply Belcher, Rapture (XXV, XLII), Reflection
(XXVII); William Billings, ŌBellinghamĶ from The Continental Harmony (XV), ŌFraminghamĶ from The Psalm-SingerÕs Amusement (XXXV),
ŌFuneral Anthem ÔI Heard a Great VoiceÕĶ from The Singing MasterÕs Assistant (III), ŌHeathĶ from The Singing-MasterÕs Assistant (XXI),
ŌJudeaĶ from The Singing MasterÕs
Assistant (XXVI), ŌThe Lord Descended from AboveĶ from The New-England Psalm-Singer (V), The Lord Is RisÕn Indeed (INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION) (XXXVIII),
ŌMansfieldĶ from Music in Miniature
(II), ŌNewburnĶ from Music in Miniature
(XXXIII), ŌOld North or Morning HymnĶ from The
New-England Psalm-Singer (XVIII), ŌSaint HellensĶ (XXIII), ŌSaint ThomasĶ
from The Continental Harmony (XXIV),
ŌWeymouthĶ from The Continental Harmony
(XXXIX), ŌWheellers PointĶ from The
New-England Psalm Singer (XI), ŌWorcesterĶ from The Singing MasterÕs Assistant (XIII); Benjamin Clark, Drum Book, 1797 (March I-IV): On the Roads to Boston (15), Mount Vernon (16), Happy Lover (17), The
Woodcutter (18); Jacob French, Association
(XVII), Coelestis (XXXVII), Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates (IV), Wisdom (XXII); Andrew Law, Bloomfield (XLIV), Castle Street (XLIII), Detroit
(XVI), Dover (IX), Greenwich (XXVIII), LarrÕs Lane (VII), Litchfield
(XXXII), Littleton (XII), New Windsor (XXXI), New York (XIX), Tempest
(XXX), Trumpet (XXIX), Tyndale (VIII); James Lyon, Brunswick (XIV), Cookfield (I), 57th Psalm
Tune (XXXVI), Is there Not an
Appointed Time? (X), The New 50th
Psalm Tune (XL), O Give Thanks
(XX), Psalm 17 (VI), Saint Peters (XXXIV), Standish Tune (XLI); for Imitations:
J(ohann) F(riedrich) Peter, Die mit
Trnen sen (II); Simon Peter, Siehe
meine Knechte (I)
Extent: 14 tunes, solos for any suitable instruments CHECK; 4 marches, drum
solos transcribed by James Barnes; 44 harmonies, for the most part both
quartets and solos, for any suitable instruments or instrument including
18th-century ones if they are available even if they donÕt balance with what
else is going on***; 2 imitations of Moravian church music for violoncello
(Imitation I), for clarinet in *** (Imitation II); Tune I (64 measures); Tune II
(48 measures); Tune III (64 measures); Tune IV (64 measures); Tune V (80
measures); Tune VI (64 measures); Tune VII (32 measures); Tune VIII (32
measures); Tune IX (64 measures); Tune X (64 measures); Tune XI (32 measures);
Tune XII (80 measures); Tune XIII (64 measures); Tune XIV (64 measures); March
I (8 measures); March II (20 measures); March III (18 measures); March IV (20
measures); Harmony I (20 measures); Harmony II (23 measures); Harmony III (35
measures); Harmony IV (231 measures); Harmony V (135 measures); Harmony VI (17
measures); Harmony VII (18 measures); Harmony VIII (14 measures); Harmony IX
(15 measures); Harmony X (129 measures); Harmony XI (16 measures); Harmony XII
(27 measures); Harmony XIII (19 measures); Harmony XIV (18 measures); Harmony
XV (28 measures); Harmony XVI (15 measures); Harmony XVII (26 measures);
Harmony XVIII (26 measures); Harmony XIX (127 measures); Harmony XX (63
measures); Harmony XXI (29 measures); Harmony XXII (110 measures); Harmony
XXIII (25 measures); Harmony XXIV (56 measures); Harmony XXV (21 measures);
Harmony XXVI (17 measures); Harmony XXVII (36 measures); Harmony XXVIII (116
measures); Harmony XXIX (25 measures); Harmony XXX (16 measures); Harmony XXXI
(15 measures); Harmony XXXII (21 measures); Harmony XXXIII (17 measures);
Harmony XXXIV (13 measures); Harmony XXXV (30 measures); Harmony XXXVI (18
measures); Harmony XXXVII (27 measures); Harmony XXXVIII (133 measures);
Harmony XXXIX (33 measures); Harmony XL (24 measures); Harmony XLI (18
measures); Harmony XLII (21 measures); Harmony XLIII (21 measures); Harmony
XLIV (14 measures); Imitations I (83 measures); Imitation II (68 measures)
Duration: indeterminate?***
Commission: made possible with funds provided by the National Endowment on the
Arts 1975-1976
Dedication: for Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in observance of the
Bicentennial of the United States of America and also for the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York
Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Date: May-August 1976
First performance: September 30, 1976
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 528-533, 914, 930, 988-989
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1976 (Peters; 6819); arrangement by Roger
Zahab (New York, November 1985) of 13 of the 44 harmonies for violin and
keyboard instrument (duration approximately 38 minutes) as Thirteen Harmonies. New York: Henmar Press, 1986 (Peters; 67117)
Literature: Anonymous 1976RENGA; Bernstein, D.W. 2001b; Cage 1976b; Cage 1976UNTITLED; Cage 1979c,
133-134; Cage 1993d, 102-104; Cage/Cope 1980, 7-9; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 75, 76, 79;
Griffiths 1981a, 43, 44; Kostelanetz 1988b, 34, 80,
83, 85-86, 119-122, 234; Schning
1979***, 21/1982, 91; Thorman 2002, 154, 159; Zimmermann, W. 1992.
Aria
Text: John Cage
Medium: voice (any range: originally intended for mezzo-soprano: ***see score Fontana Mix); may be performed
simultaneously with Fontana Mix, Concert for Piano and Orchestra or Song Books (implicitly)
Model: John Cage, Fontana Mix, 1958
Extent: instructions for performance (11 sentences) and 20 systems
Duration: indeterminate
Date: November or December 1958
First performance: January 5, 1959
Dedication: for Cathy Berberian
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 232-233
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6701)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 20; Cage 1982r; Cage 1993d, 58; Cage/Charles 1976, 179; Cage/Mimaroğlu
1965; Crawford, H. 1971; Epperson 1974; Griffiths 1981a, 36, 38; Lies 1992; Mathon 1990-1991; Mathon 1995-1996;
Petkus 1986, 135-142; Schwartz, E. 1971; Stoanova 1987; Thorman
2002, 71, 72, 73, 84, 102, 178, 206.
ASLSP
Medium: piano or organ
Extent: instructions for performance (15 sentences); eight pieces of 2 systems
each
Duration: indeterminate
Date: January 1985
First performance: July 14-18, 1985; October 10, 1985
(official)
Commission: Friends of the Maryland Summer Institute for the Creative and
Performing Arts
Dedication: to the memory of Madolyn Leonard
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 765, 1052-1054
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1985 (Peters; 67070)
Literature: Cage 1993d, 139-140.
Assemblage (in collaboration with Gordon Mumma and David Tudor)
Medium: magnetic tape
Film: Richard Moore, Assemblage
Extent: unknown
Duration: 59 minutes
Date: October 14-November 3, 1968
First performance: unknown
Note: produced for KQED film group in San Francisco, California
Date: completed November 1968
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Cross, L.M. 1974, 769; ***Cunningham/Lesschaeve 1980/1985, 220;
1980/1986, 275; Thorman 2002, 213; Vaughan 1997, 166-167, 190, 294.
Atlas Borealis with the Ten thunderclaps
Text: James Joyce, Finnegans Wake.
New York: Viking, 1939, 3, 23, 44, 90, 113, 257, 314, 332, 414, 424
Medium: chorus and orchestra
Model: Antonn Bečvř, Atlas
borealis 1950.0. Praha: Československ Akademie Věd, 1962
Date: planned from 1966, but never realized
Sources: present location unknown
Literature: Cage 1970f, 171; Cage 1971b; Cage 1973h, 70, 117; Cage 1979c, 133;
Cage 1980e; Cage 1983DIARY, 165; Cage 1993d, 227; Cage/Charles 1976, 112, 140, 174, 211-213, 212n; Cage/Emmerik 1991, 82; Cage/Finegan, Koppel
and Haskell 1969, 15; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 74; Cage/Kostelanetz
1968[WE]/1970, 20; Cage/Raymond and Roberts 1980, 6; Cage/Schnberger 1978;
Cage/Schning 1982, 81; Cage and Hiller/Austin 1968, 13; Kostelanetz
1970d, 20.
Atlas Eclipticalis
Medium: any solo
from or combination of the following eighty-six instrumental parts, using live
electronics ad libitum: three flutes (each doubling on piccolo and alto flute
ad libitum), three oboes (each doubling on English horn and any saxophones ad
libitum), three clarinets (each playing in any key and doubling on bass or
contrabass clarinet ad libitum), three bassoons (each doubling on contrabassoon
ad libitum), five horns (1, 3 treble clef, 2, 4-5 bass clef), three trumpets
(each playing in any key), three trombones (1-2 tenor, 3 bass), three tubas
(each playing in any key), three timpani players (each player using four pedal
instruments), nine percussionists using miscellaneous unspecified non-pitched
instruments, three harps (bass and treble clefs changing ad libitum),
twenty-four violins (1-12 one octave higher than written), nine violas (all
octave higher ad libitum), nine violoncelli (octave higher ad libitum), and
three contrabasses; conductor
Note: instruments may be amplified using Cartridge Music (controls operated
by an assistant to the conductor); may be performed in whole or part with Solo for Voice 45 and Solo for
Voice 48 from Song Books and with Winter Music
Note: first of a group of works of which Variations
IV is the second and 0'00"
is the third
Model: Antonn Bečvř, Atlas
eclipticalis 1950.0. Praha: Československ Akademie Věd, 1958
Extent: instructions for performance (*** sentences, i-***roman numerals) and
1740 systems (violins 1-96, violas 97-132, violoncellos 133-168, contrabasses
169-180; flutes 181-192, oboes 193-204, clarinets 205-216, bassoons 217-228;
horns 229-248, trumpets 249-260, trombones 261-272, tubas 273-284; timpani
285-296, percussion 297-332; harps 333-344; conductor [including assistant***]
345-348)
Duration: indeterminate (material provided to last at least 40 minutes if performed
in its entirety***)
Commission: Pierre
Mercure for the Montreal Festivals Society
Dedication: for Guy
G. Nearing (violin 1); Remy Charlip (violin 2); Nam June Paik (violin 3);
Walter Hinrichsen and Evelyn (violin 4); Henri Pousseur and Thea (violin 5); Robert
Wood and Marilyn (violin 6); Lois Long (violin 7); Richard K. Winslow and Betty
(violin 8); W. Robert Thompson and Mary (violin 9); Paula Madawick (violin 10);
Robert Rauschenberg (violin 11); Kurt Michaelis (violin 12); Norman Rudich and
Linda (violin 13); Keith McGary and Donna (violin 14); Arthur Josephson and
Mary Caroline (violin 15); Nicola Cernovich (violin 16); Louis Silverstein
(violin 17); Lawrence Halprin and Ann (violin 18); Chaloner Spencer and Helen
(violin 19); Pegeen Rumney (violin 20); Sigmund Neumann (violin 21); Raymond
Grimaila (violin 22); George Avakian and Anahid (violin 23); Robert Dunn and
Judith (violin 24); Edgar Anderson and Dorothy (viola 1); Viola Farber (viola
2); Christian Wolff (viola 3); Karlheinz Stockhausen and Doris (viola 4);
Connie Wilson and Louella Bacon (viola 5); Bruce Markgraf and Rosemary (viola
6); Luciano Berio and Cathy (viola 7); Morton Feldman and Cynthia (viola 8);
Jasper Johns (viola 9); Dr. David R. Telson and Paula (violoncello 1); Hans
Austen and Sulamith (violoncello 2); William Jefferys (violoncello 3); Pierre
Mercure (violoncello 4); James Sykes and Clay (violoncello 5); Ross Gortner and
Priscilla (violoncello 6); Louis Mink and Pat (violoncello 7); Joe Peoples and
Ruth (violoncello 8); Shareen Blair (violoncello 9); Leonard Meyer and Lee
(contrabass 1); Steve Paxton (contrabass 2);
yvind Fahlstrm and Barbro
(contrabass 3); Ralph Pendleton (flute 1); Carl Viggiani and Jane (flute 2);
David Gordon and Valda Setterfield (flute 3); Mell Daniel and Minna (oboe 1);
Mary Bauermeister (oboe 2); Istvn Anhalt and Beata (oboe 3); Ralph Ferrara
(clarinet 1); C. H. Waddington (clarinet 2); Robert H. Knapp and Johnsia
(clarinet 3); Mauricio Kagel and Ursula (bassoon 1); Willard Lockwood and
Louise (bassoon 2); Richard Maxfield (bassoon 3); Gira Sarabhai (horn 1); Jose
Gomez-Ibanez and Lidia (horn 2); Emile de Antonio (horn 3); Esther Dam (horn
4); Benedicte Pesle (horn 5); Richard Lippold and Louise (trumpet 1); David
McAllester and Susan (trumpet 2); Toshi Ichiyanagi (trumpet 3); Ihab Hassan
(trombone 1); Milton Cage and Crete Cage (trombone 2); Peggy Guggenheim
(trombone 3); Nathan Shapira and Irene (tuba 1); Walter Van Tilburg Clark and
Barbara (tuba 2); J. R. T. Bueno and Emily (tuba 3); David Tudor (timpani 1);
Merce Cunningham (timpani 2); Earle Brown and Carolyn (timpani 3); Norman O.
Brown and Beth (percussion 1); Samuel Green and Bunnie (percussion 2); Martha
Gerhart (percussion 3); Marian Vaine (percussion 4); Ben Johnston and Betty
(percussion 5); Paul Weiss (percussion 6); Johanna Alida Ribbelink (percussion
7); Clara Mayer (percussion 8); Marston Bates and Nancy (percussion 9); Tania
Senff (harp 1); Grace Bacon (harp 2); Reginald Arragon and Gertrude (harp 3);
Victor R. Butterfield and Mrs. Butterfield (conductor)
Date: June 1961-January 1962; individual parts: June-July 1961 (violin 7, 8,
21, viola 1, violoncello 1, contrabass 1, flute 1, oboe 1, clarinet 2, 3,
bassoon 2, horn 2, trumpet 2 [revised September 1961], trombone 2, tuba 3,
timpani 2, percussion 1, 9, harp 3); June-August 1961 (violin 10, 11, 22, viola
7, 9, violoncello 3, 4); June-July 21, 1961 (general directions, directions for
percussion and directions for conductor and assistant); June-September 1961
(violin 17); June-September 1961 (viola 3, 4); June-December 1961 (violin 2-4,
6); June-December 1961 (violin 14, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24, viola 2, 8, oboe 2, 3,
clarinet 1, bassoon 1, 3, horn 1, 3, 4, 5, trumpet 1, 3, trombone 1, 3, timpani
1, 3, percussion 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, harp 1, 2); June 1961-January 1962
(violin 1, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 20, viola 5, 6, violoncello 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
contrabass 2, 3, flute 2, 3, tuba 1, 2)
First performance: August 3, 1961
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 279-281, 283-284, 965-967,
1083; Zurich, collection Jedlicka family
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1961 and 1962 (Peters; 6782)
Literature: Beeler 1973; Blum 1981; Cage 1962e, 30; Cage 1964b; Cage 1967o, 69;
Cage 1976d; Cage 1986e; Cage 1993d, 61-62, 106, 246; Cage/Charles 1976, 211-212; Cage/Cope 1980, 16; Cage/Gagne and Caras
1982, 75-76; Downes 1970; Gockel
1985; Kostelanetz 1970d, 143-144; Nyman 1976b; Oliveros 1980; Pritchett 1993,
124.
Bacchanale
Choreography: Syvilla Fort
Medium: prepared piano
Extent: 186 measures
Duration: 6 minutes
Dedication: for Syvilla Fort (1917-1975)
Date: March 1940
First performance: April 28, 1940
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 28-30
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6784); repr. in John Cage, Prepared Piano Music Volume 1: 1940-47.
New York: Henmar Press, [2000], pp. 4-17 (Peters; 67886a)
Literature: Bunger 1973/1981, 53; Cage 1962e, 15; Cage 1973d; Cage 1979c, 7-8; Cage 1993d, 7, 35-36,
117, 118; Cage/Charles 1976,
29-30, 41; Cage/Holmes 1981, 3; Frst-Heidtmann 1979, 152-159; Griffiths 1981a,
13-14, 18; Kostelanetz 1970d, 129; Levitz 2005; Rhodes, C.S. 1995; Tomkins 1965a, 89-90; Vaes 2009, 714-717.
The Beatles 1962-1970
Medium: piano and magnetic tape (or six pianos***)
Model: The Beatles, The Beatles
1962-1970
Extent: 45 measures (part I), *** measures (part II), *** measures (part III),
*** measures (part IV), *** measures (part V), *** measures (part VI)
Duration: between 7 minutes and 15 seconds and 8 minutes
Dedication: for Aki Takahashi
Date: August 1989
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Bird Cage
Medium: a performer using twelve magnetic tapes (containing electronically
processed sounds of three categories: birds in aviaries made March or April
1972, in the Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and in Bombay Hook Wildlife
Refuge near Dover, Delaware; Cage singing Mureau;
and environmental sounds) to be played back in a space in which people are free
to move and birds to fly
Extent: instructions for performance (6 sentences); 3 sets of 2 columns
consisting of 88 numbers each
Duration: indeterminate (duration of individual tapes varies between 25 minutes
14 seconds and 27 minutes 55 seconds when played back at 19 cm per second)
Date: April 1972
First performance: August 30, 1972
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 424-425, 981
Realization: of tapes by John Cage and Joel Chadabe (April 1972, Albany, New York,
Albany studio), produced at the State University of New York in Albany
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1972 (Peters; 6810)
Literature: Chadabe 1972; Chadabe 1975, 173; Chadabe 1983; Thorman
2002, 122.
A Book of Music
Medium: two prepared pianos
Extent: Part One (measures 1-455); Part Two (measures 456-1639)
Duration: approximately 30 minutes
Date: May-August 1944
First performance: January 21, 1945
Dedication: for Robert Fizdale and Arthur Gold
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 110, 938
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6702)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 19; Cage 1973d; Cage 1979c, 8, 185; Cage 1991c, 64-65; Cage 1993d, 9, 10, 40,
118; Cage/Cope 1980, 21; Griffiths
1981a, 19; Zuber 1992.
Branches
Medium: any number of percussionists using amplified plant materials, at least
one of which a pod rattle from a poinciana tree and at least one (preferably
several) are cacti
Note: alternative title Improvisation
Ib
Note: each performance of Branches
includes a performance of Child of Tree
Extent: ***sentences
Duration: 8 minutes or multiple thereof
Date: 1976
First performance: unknown
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 534-535, 990-991, 1008
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1976 (Peters; 66684)
Literature: Barkema and Blaauw 1978; Cage 1993d, 101-102; Cage/Darter 1982, 22; Cage/Fletcher and Moore
1983; Cage/Holmes 1981, 3; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 76-77; Cage/Reynolds
1979, 582; Cage/Schnberger 1978; Cage/Smith, S.S. 1983, 5-7; Griffiths 1981a,
42-43; Gronemeyer 1983; Kim 2008; Kostelanetz 1988b, 93.
But What about the Noise of Crumpling Paper
Which He Used to Do in order to Paint the Series of "Papiers
froisss" or Tearing up Paper to Make "Papiers dchirs"? Arp
Was Stimulated by Water (Sea, Lake, and Flowing Waters like Rivers), Forests.
Medium: three to ten percussionists each using at least two only slightly
resonant instruments, also involving water, paper, etc.***
Extent: instructions for performance (10 sentences); each player 10 systems
Duration: indeterminate
Date: August 1985
Commission: Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Dedication: in celebration of the work of Jean Arp on the occasion of the
centenary of his birth, for Les Percussions de Strasbourg
First performance: April 15, 1986; November 16, 1986 (official)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 665-667
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1985 (Peters; 67074)
Literature: Cage 1993d, 140-141; Croset 1987-1988.
c C/omposed Improvisation
Medium: any solo from or combination of snare drum, [Ned] Steinberger bass
guitar, and one-sided drums with or without jangles
Extent: *** sentences (1), *** sentences (2), *** sentences (3)
Duration: 8 minutes or multiples thereof
Commission: Robert Black (solo for Steinberger bass guitar)
Dedication: for Robert Black (solo for Steinberger bass guitar), Stuart Smith
(solo for snare drum) and Glen Velez (solo for one-sided drums)
Date: June 26, 1987 REVISEDand in 1990 in New York (solo for snare drum),
July 4, 1987 and 1990 in New York (solo for Steinberger bass guitar); and 1990
in New York (solo for one-sided drums with or without jangles)
First performance: September 28, 1987 (preview
performance, Steinberger bass guitar); October 6, 1987 (first performance,
Steinberger bass guitar); October 3,
1988 (snare drum); December 2, 1990 (possibly first performance of version for
one-sided drums)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 759-764, 793-794 [793 also
contains notation referring to I-VI***]
Publication: in The Noble Snare: Compositions
for Unaccompanied Snare Drum, vol. 2, ed. Stuart Saunders Smith. Baltimore,
Maryland: Smith Publications, 1988, 24-25 [snare drum]; New York: Henmar Press,
1990 (Peters; 67318a-c) [Steinberger bass guitar (REVISED), snare drum,
one-sided drums]
Literature: Baker, J.C. 2004.
Cartridge Music
Medium: one to forty performers using up to twenty record players, instruments
or objects amplified by means of cartridges or contact microphones, or for two
or more*** performers using amplified piano or amplified cymbal; may be
performed with Atlas Eclipticalis (***ausgesteuert
nach), Song Books (Solo for Voice 45
and 48), Winter Music
Note: alternative titles: Duet for
Cymbal and Piano Duet, Trio, or ...***; this score was used in
composing Where Are We Going? And What
Are We Doing? [text], On Robert
Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work [text], Rhythm Etc. [text], Jasper
Johns, Stories and Ideas [text]
Extent: *** systems
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: none
Date: July 1960
First performance: September 15, 1960
Sources: Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 3 folder 6; New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 262-266, 294***, 959, 961; Zurich,
collection Jedlicka family
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6703)
Literature: Balzano 1980a; Beeler 1973; Cage 1961h, 194; Cage 1962d; Cage 1962e,
34; Cage 1967o, 43, 73, 120; Cage 1993d, 60-62; Cage/Charles 1976, 41-42; Cage/Cope 1980,
14-15; Cage/Darter 1982, 22, 26; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 76-77; Cage/Mimaroğlu
1965; Collins,
Nicolas 2007; Fetterman 1996,
59-67; Henck 1985a; Kostelanetz 1970d, 144-145; Sonntag 1981, 57-68; Thorman 2002, 66, 78,
79-80, 81, 82, 83, 88, 95; Zimmerman
1962-1963.
Cassette
Medium: five performers at a conference table, each operating a cassette
machine and any number of pre-recorded cassette tapes
Extent: unknown
Duration: 40 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1977
First performance: December 7, 1977
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Hamm et al. 1980; Rushefsky 1977b; Thorman 2002, 94.
A Chant with Claps
Text: John Cage
Medium: voice (c' to c'') and handclaps
Extent: 31 measures
Duration: approximately 1 minute
Dedication: for Sidney Robertson Cowell (1903-1995)
Note: presumably composed as a house-warming present to Sidney Cowell when
she and Henry Cowell moved up to Shady, New York
Date: late 1942 or early 1943
First performance: unknown
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 1077, JPB 96-59
Publication: none
Literature: none.
Les chants de Maldoror pulvriss par lÕassistance mme
Medium: a francophone public of no more than 200 persons
Text: John Cage, original text
Model: Comte de Lautramont [pseudonym of Isidore-Lucien Ducasse], Les chants de Maldoror, 1868-1869
Extent: instructions for performance (*** sentences), 200 pages
Duration: 1 minute and 30 seconds
Dedication: none
Date: December 1971
First performance: unknown
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 419-422
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1971 (Peters; 6809); instructions for performance published as Cage 1987-1988a
Literature: Thorman 2002, ix, 6, 28, 113, 149, 150-154, 158, 160, 161, 198, 206.
Cheap Imitation (Piano)
Choreography: Merce Cunningham, Second Hand
Medium: piano
Model: Erik Satie, Socrate: Drame
symphonique en trois parties. Paris: Editions de la Sirne, 1919 (vocal
score)
Extent: I (176 measures); II (206 measures); III (294 measures)
Duration: approximately 35 minutes
Dedication: originally dedicated to Virgil Thomson; recalled
Date: December 1969; completed December 14, 1969
First performance: January 8, 1970
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 305; Washington, D.C.,
Library of Congress, ML 30.3c.C23 no. 1, Koussevitzky Collection
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1970 (Peters; 6805)
Literature: Bernstein, D.W. 2001b;
Brooks, W. 1981; Cage 1972LETTER-OTTE-A; Cage 1972LETTER-OTTE-B; Cage 1973h,
xiii-xvi passim, 132; Cage 1977e; Cage 1982b, 52-54; Cage 1982LETTER-TO-BLUM;
Cage 1987-1988d; Cage 1993d, 93-94; Cage/Charles 1976, 177, 179; Cage, Shattuck and Gillmor 1982; Charles 1971[a]/1978, 43; Erdmann 1993f,
143-155; Erdmann and Vogel 1996; Francis, J.R. 1976, 56-60; Goldberg, J. 1986,
18-27; Griffiths 1981a, 41;
Huber, N.A. 1980; Huber, N.A. 1984; Jensen, M. 2009; Jordan 1979, 17; Kostelanetz
1988b, 79-80; New Yorker 1973; Nimczik 1989a; Nimczik 1989b; Nimczik
2004; Nyman 1974, 31; Nyman
1976[***]; Oehlschlgel 1979; Ruiter 1993, vol. 1, 141-142; Thorman
2002, 48.
Cheap Imitation (Orchestra)
Medium: orchestra without conductor consisting of twenty-four to ninety-five musicians:
one to three piccolos, one to three flutes, one to three alto flutes, one to
three oboes, one to three English horns, one to three clarinets in B flat, one
to three bass clarinets in B flat, one to three bassoons, one to three alto
saxophones in E flat, one to three horns in F, one to three trumpets in C, one
to three trombones, one to three tubas, one to three harps, piano, celesta,
guitar, marimba, timpani ad libitum, orchestral bells ad libitum, glockenspiel,
vibraphone ad libitum, one to twelve violins I, one to twelve violins II, one
to nine violas, one to nine violoncellos, one to three contrabasses
Model: Erik Satie, Socrate: Drame
symphonique en trois parties. Paris: Editions de la Sirne, 1919 (vocal
score)
Extent: I (176 measures); II (206 measures); III (294 measures)
Duration: approximately 35 minutes
Commission: Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress
Dedication: for the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation and dedicated to the
memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky
Date: February 1970-Late 1972
First performance: May 13, 1972
Sources: Minneapolis, Minnesota, collection Martin Friedman; New York, Public
Library, JPB 94-24 folder 306, 321-418; Washington, D.C., Library of Congress,
ML 30 .3c.C23 no. 1, Koussevitzky Collection
Publication: parts [copied by Carlo Carnivale]. New York: Henmar Press, 1972
(Peters; 6805a)
Literature: Cage 1972[Letter?s TO OTTE: 2x A EN B?]; Cage 1973h, xiii-xvi; Cage
1977e; Cage 1987-1988d; Cage 1993d, 94-95; Cage/Barnard 1980, 7; Cage/Charles 1976, 142-143,183-184n2; Huber, N.A.
1980; Jensen, M. 2009; Nee 1980a; Thorman 2002, 152.
Cheap Imitation (Violin)
Medium: violin
Model: Erik Satie, Socrate: Drame
symphonique en trois parties. Paris: Editions de la Sirne, 1919 (vocal
score)
Extent: 1. 176 measures; 2. 206 measures; 3. 294 measures
Duration: approximately 35 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1977 in New York and completed before 21 September
First performance: November 4, 1977
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 544-545, 997
Publication: ed. Paul Zukofsky. New York: Henmar Press, 1977 (Peters; 66754)
Literature: Bray 1980; Cage 1977e; Cage 1981l; Cage 1993d, 93; MM
1978 or after; New York State School
Music News 1977 or later; Zukofsky
1982.
Cheap Imitation (Violin and Piano)
Medium: violin and piano
Model: Erik Satie, Socrate: Drame
symphonique en trois parties. Paris: Editions de la Sirne, 1919 (vocal
score)
Extent: 1. 176 measures; 2. 206 measures; 3. 294 measures
Duration: approximately 35 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1977, unfinished, incomplete, rejected***
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 546
Literature: Zukofsky 1982, 168.
Cheap Imitation (Violoncello)
Medium: violoncello
Date: circa 1981, unfinished
Dedication: none
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 591
Publication: none.
Cheap Imitation No. 2. See Song
Books.
Cheap Imitation No. 3. See Song
Books.
Cheap Imitation No. 4. See Song
Books.
Cheap Imitation No. 5. See Song
Books.
Cheap Imitation No. 6. See Song
Books.
Chess Pieces
Medium: piano
Note: related to Chess Piece
(artwork)
Extent: I (12 measures); II (12 measures); III (12 measures); IV (12
measures); V (12 measures); VI (12 measures); VII (12 measures); VIII (12
measures); IX (12 measures); X (12 measures); XI (12 measures); XII (12
measures); XIII (12 measures); XIV (12 measures); XV (12 measures); XVI (12
measures); XVII (12 measures); XVIII (12 measures); XIX (12 measures); XX (12
measures); XXI (12 measures); XXII (12 measures)
Duration: approximately 8 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: prior to December 12, 1944 (sketch and draft dated 1943)
First performance: 2005 or 2006
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 99
Publication: ed. Margaret Leng Tan. New York: Henmar Press, 2005 (Peters; 68110).
Child of Tree
Note: the title derives from James Joyce, Finnegans Wake. New York: Viking Press, 1939, 556, line 19
Note: alternative title Improvisation
I or Improvisation Ia
Choreography: Merce Cunningham, Solo
Medium: percussionist using amplified plant materials, at least one of which
is a pod rattle from a poinciana tree and at least one (preferably several) are
cacti (opuntiae)
Extent: 26 sentences and 5 tables
Duration: 8 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1975
First performance: March 8, 1975
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 431, 1008
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1975 (Peters; 66685)
Literature: Bakan, Bryant, and Li 1990; Barkema and Blaauw 1978; Cage 1993d, 101, 102; Cage/Cope 1980, 13; Cage/Darter 1982, 22;
Cage/Holmes 1981, 3; Cage/Reynolds 1979, 582; Cage/Schnberger 1978;
Cage/Smith, S.S. 1983, 5-7; Griffiths 1981a, 42-43; Kim 2008;
Kostelanetz 1988b, 93.
Chorals
Medium: violin
Model: Erik Satie, Douze petits chorals,
revised by Robert Caby. Paris [etc.]: Salabert, 1968, nos. 1, É etc.; as
published in Song Books, Solo for
Voice 85***
Extent: I (3 systems); II (3 systems); III (2 systems); IV (1 system); V (2
systems); VI (2 systems); VII (2 systems); VIII (2 systems); IX (2 systems)
Duration: approximately 6 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: 1978
First performance: September 21, 1978
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 1078
Publication: ed. Paul Zukofsky. New York: Henmar Press, 1978 (Peters; 66762)
Literature: Cage 1981l; Cage 1982b, 53; Cage 1993d, 105; Raynor 1985; Zukofsky 1982.
Choruses from The Persians. See Greek Ode.
_, _ _ Circus on _
Text: indeterminate
Medium: voice (optionally on magnetic tape) or magnetic tape (as a radio play)
or tapes or any number of musicians, or any combination of these categories ***
means for translating a book into a performance without actors, a performance
which is both literary and musical or one or the other
Extent: 38 sentences
Duration: indeterminate
Commission: Klaus Schning for Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne
Dedication: for Klaus Schning
Date: early September 1979
First performance: October 20, 1979; October 22, 1979 (first
broadcast); May 24, 1980 (version with both tapes played simultaneously:
'60-'80***); January 19, 1981 (first live performance)
Realizations: (1) by John Cage in collaboration with John David Fullemann (between
June 15 and August 15, 1979), as Roaratorio,
an Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake, after James Joyce, Finnegans Wake. New York: Viking Press, 1939 [the title derives
from p. 41], radio play (text: John Cage, Writing
for the Second Time through Finnegans Wake) co-produced by Westdeutscher
Rundfunk, Sddeutscher Rundfunk and Katholieke Radio Omroep Hilversum, duration
approximately 60 minutes; Cage authorized a multiple tape version for 2 stereo
tapes (made for radio broadcast and concert use), lasting approximately 30
minutes each; 4 loudspeakers) with instructions for playing the tapes
overlapping or simultaneously***, 1980; (2) by John Cage, [Untitled], after
Franz Kafka, Die Verwandlung,
unfinished; Cage completed Writing
through Die Verwandlung I, 1983
Sources: Bensberg, collection Klaus Schning; New York, Public Library, JPB
94-24 folder 581-583, 1019-1020
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1979 (Peters; 66816); repr. in Cage 1982k,
173, 175; repr. in Aufbrechen Amerika.,
ed. Bojan Budisavljevic. Bochum: Stadt Bochum [etc.], 11, 13; ***?first chapter
of ŌListing through Finnegans WakeĶ published as Cage 1979hLISTING
Literature: Cage 1980e; Cage 1982a; Cage 1982k; Cage 1990f, 439-440; Cage/Boenders
1980, 221; Cage/Kraglund 1982; Cage/Parfitt 1982; Cage/Rolland 1981; Cage/Schning 1982, 107; Cage/Timar, Frasconi,
and Ingelevics 1981, 10-11; Crampton 1985; Ferguson and Schottlaender
1993[***reproductions of worksheets]; Koning 1980; Kostelanetz 1987d; Mller, H.-C. 1985; Perloff, M. 1987; Perloff,
M. 1991, 149-161; Pritchett 1996; Reichert 1985; Schning 1982; Shimoda 1982; Smith, Gr.
1983; Timper 1990, 246-248; Thorman
2002, 206; Vormweg 1979.
The City Wears a Slouch Hat
Text: Kenneth Patchen
Note: there were two different versions of this composition; only the
manuscript material of the second version survives
Medium: narrator and ***four, five or six percussionists using five tin cans,
bell, two bongos, two cowbells, 1 maraca, Chinese woodblock, music stand,
Turkish cymbal, three temple gongs, tom tom (player 1); teak woodblock, large
tom tom, bell, claves, thundersheet, edges of tom toms, Balinese gongs, music
stand, iron pipe (player 2); ratchet, tractor, thundersheet, tam tam, horn
(player 3); whistle, buzzer, telephone, metronome, rattle, [bass strings of]
piano (player 4); records: auto [automobile or any motor sound], variable
frequency record, airplane, rain, wind, ocean, [steel] coil, baby cries (player
5); two muted gongs, large Chinese cymbal, water gong, alarm bell, oxen bell,
marimbula, washboard, music stand (player 6) [***also water gong, bass drum,
Siamese rattle, Chinese gongs, Japanese temple gongs (Anonymous 1942RADIO)]
Extent: *** measures
Duration: approximately 40 minutes
Commission: Columbia Broadcasting System for their Columbia Workshop radio play
series on WBBM radio in Chicago
Dedication: for Xenia Cage
Date: Late 1941-late May 1942
First performance: May 31, 1942 (broadcast)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 88-70, JPB 94-24 folder 84-85
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, forthcoming (Peters; 67497)
Literature: Cage 1951a, 12, 13; Cage 1993d, 38-39, 63,
64, 240; Cage/Charles 1976,
193-194; Cage/Schning 1982, 91; Cage/Schning 1983, 291-293; Gann
1990aESSENTIAL; Thorman 2002, 36, 206.
A Collection of Rocks
Text: vocalise
Medium: mixed chorus (vocalise) consisting of sopranos 1, sopranos 2, altos 1,
altos 2, tenors 1, tenors 2, basses 1, basses 2 and orchestra consisting of
flutes 1, flutes 2, oboes, clarinets 1 in B flat, clarinets 2 in B flat, alto
saxophones in E flat, tenor saxophones in B flat, baritone saxophones in E
flat, bassoons, horns in F, trumpets 1 in C, trumpets 2 in C, tenor trombones,
violins, violas, violoncellos
Extent: instructions for performance (*** sentences); parts (*** systems)
Duration: *** 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 minutes
Date: October 1984
First performance: April 19, 1985
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 620-622, 1041
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1984 (Peters; 67041)
Literature: ***NNBCage 1985PREFACE TO SCORE = PROGRAM NOTES; Cage 1988c; Cage 1993d, 180-182; Gligo 1987; Kostelanetz 1988b, 154;
Thorman 2002, 189.
Composition for Three Voices
Medium: any three or more instruments encompassing the ranges d' to d''', a to
a'', and d to d'' respectively
Extent: 36 measures
Duration: approximately 4 minutes
Dedication: for Pauline Schindler [ne Gibling]
Date: completed January 15, 1934
First performance: unknown
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 12
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1974 (Peters; 6704)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 27; Cage 1993d, 5, 6; Griffiths 1981a, 1-3.
Concert for Piano and
Orchestra
Medium: any solo from or any combination of piano, flute (ad libitum doubling
on alto flute and piccolo), clarinet in B flat, bassoon (ad libitum doubling on
baritone saxophone), trumpet in B flat (ad libitum doubling on trumpets in F,
D, C, and E flat), tenor trombone, tuba in F (ad libitum doubling on tuba in B
flat), three violins, two violas, violoncello, contrabass, conductor (optional)
Note: to be performed with or without/***possible superpositions with Aria, Cartridge Music, Fontana Mix,
Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in
Instrumental and Electronic Music [text], Solo for Voice 1, Solo for
Voice 2, Song Books, WBAI; the title may change according to
the instrumentation, for instance ŌConcert for Piano, Violin, and TubaĶ
Extent: instructions for performance per part (*** sentences); Solo for piano
(63 pages on several systems); flute, alto flute, and piccolo (60 systems);
clarinet in B flat (60 systems); bassoon and baritone saxophone (60 systems);
violin 1 (80 systems); violin 2 (80 systems); violin 3 (80 systems); viola 1
(80 systems); viola 2 (80 systems); violoncello (80 systems); contrabass (80
systems); trumpets in E flat, F, D, C, and B flat (60 systems); trombone (60
systems); tubas in F and B flat (60 systems); conductor (*** sentences, 51
systems)
Duration: indeterminate
Commission: Elaine
De Kooning
Dedication: for
Elaine De Kooning
Date: 1957-1958; Solo for Piano completed March 27, 1958
First performance: May 15,
1958
Sources: Berlin, Gelbe Musik (***); Berlin, private collection; Evanston,
Illinois, Northwestern University Music Library; Los Angeles, Getty Center,
940073 box 3 folder 6-7, box 4 folder 1-3; New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24
folder 217-231; Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Dorothy and Herbert
Vogel Collection
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6705) [piano]; parts for violins
1-3 [pages 1-16, 17-32, 33-48], violas 1-2 [pages 49-64, 65-80], trumpets in E
flat, F, D, C, and B flat [pages 81-92], violoncello [pages 93-108], tubas in F
and B flat [pages 109-120], clarinet in B flat [pages 121-132], flute, alto
flute and piccolo [pages 133-144], bassoon and baritone saxophone [pages
145-156], contrabass [pages 157-172], trombone [pages 173-184], conductor
[optional]. New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6705a-n)
Literature: Block and Freybourg 1983, 186; Blum 1981; Cage 1959e; Cage 1959g; Cage
1959h; Cage 1961h, 28, 31, 260; Cage 1962e, 31; Cage 1967o, 135-136; Cage 1982r; Cage 1993d, 56-58, 69,
76, 246; Cage/Charles 1976,
36-37, 40, 143-144, 159-160, 211; Cage/Duckworth 1989, 24-25; Cage/Helms
1972[recording only? ***Neues Forvm]; Cage/Kumpf 1975; Cage/Retallack 1996, 296-298; Cage/Reynolds 1979, 587-588; Charles 1978c,
131-138; Dempster 1979; Duckworth
1972, 105-10, 117; Erdmann 1993f, 65-68; Francis, J.R. 1976, 79-87; Fueter,
Thurneysen and Welti 1969; Goodman, N.
1968, 187-190; Griffiths 1981a, 33-36; Holzaepfel 1993, 197-312; Holzaepfel
2001; Kostelanetz 1970d, 130-131; Kostelanetz 1988b, 68-69; Mayer, H. 1964, 279-280; Metzger, H.-K. 1959b;
Metzger, H.-K. 1991; Nee 1980b; Pritchett 1988a, 306-308; Pritchett 1993,
112-124; Ptz 1980; Read 1969-1970; Rehfeldt 1977, 57, 75; Rivest
1996a; Sylvester 1989b; Thorman 2002, 71, 75; Weeks
1979.
Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber
Orchestra
Medium: prepared piano and chamber orchestra consisting of flute (doubling on
piccolo), oboe, English horn, two clarinets, bassoon, horn, trumpet, tenor
trombone, bass trombone, tuba, four percussionists using small and medium
timpani, snare drum, large tom tom (timpani stick, wire brush), small suspended
Turkish cymbal, large suspended Turkish cymbal, 2 closely pitched brake drums
(leather beater), high claves, Chinese wood block, suspended Indo-Chinese
rattle, pod rattle, amplified coil of wire inserted in pick-up arm of
phonograph played with fingernail, electric buzzer (player 1); tambourine,
glockenspiel, medium suspended Chinese cymbal, Turkish finger cymbals,
suspended medium gong, thin (high) thundersheet, anvil, metal container (waste
basket) (metal beater), marimbula, high jazz wood block, 2 teak wood blocks, 2
temple blocks, North West Indian wood rattle, recording of generator (player
2); large timpano, large bass drum (including wood on wood of instrument),
suspended gong, medium size muted gong (yarn beater), muted Balinese gong, Japanese
temple gong (leather beater), water gong, wind glass, 2 Porto Rican maracas,
large guiro (wire scraper), low claves (player 3); xylophone, chimes, lionÕs
roar, small Chinese cymbal, large Chinese cymbal, small gong, large tam tam,
medium size single maracas, radio (player 4; also assistant to orchestral
pianist), harp, celesta (doubling on piano), two violins, viola, violoncello,
contrabass
Extent: First Part (207 measures); Second Part (*** measures); Third Part.
(*** measures)
Duration: approximately 22 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: First Part July-August 1950; Second Part completed October 3, 1950;
Third Part completed February 1951
First performance: October 12, 1952
Sources: Buffalo, New York, estate of Yvar Mikhashoff; Los Angeles, California,
Getty Center, 940073* box 2 folder 2, box 2 folder 4, box 3 folder 1-2; New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 165, 945-947
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6706) [score]; New York: Henmar
Press, 1960 (Peters; 6706a) [piano solo part]
Literature: Boulez/Cage 1990, 123-124, 150-153; Cage 1961h, 25; Cage 1962e, 32-33;
Cage 1979c, 8; Cage 1993d, 51, 118; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 72; Cage/Charles 1976, 33, 35, 98; Erdmann
1990c, 256-257; Frst-Heidtmann
1979, 52, 212-228; Griffiths 1981a, 22-24; Kessler 1995; Kostelanetz
1988b, 63; Pritchett 1988a,
34-87; Pritchett 1988b; Upton 1993;
Vaes 2009, 975.
Concerto Grosso
Medium: four television sets and twelve radios
Extent: unknown
Duration: inderminate
Dedication: none
Date: late 1979
First installation: January 20-March 2, 1980, Berlin, Akademie
der Knste, Fr Augen und Ohren
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1980b; Cage 1993d, 133.
Credo in Us
Libretto: Merce Cunningham
Choreography: Merce Cunningham (Husband, Shadow) and Jean Erdman (Wife, GhoulÕs
Rage)
Medium: four percussionists using two muted gongs, five tin cans (player 1);
five tin cans, electric buzzer, tom tom (player 2); piano, hands on wood, tom
tom (player 3); radio or phonograph (player 4)
Note: original subtitles: ŌA Dramatic PlayletĶ and ŌA Suburban IdyllĶ; only
the music of the revised version is published (without the libretto)
Extent: Untitled (1 measure); Curtain (7 measures); Facade One (142 measures);
3. First Progression (88 measures); Untitled (49 measures); Facade Two (47
measures [in score counted together with previous section: 96 measures]);
Second Progression (84 measures); Facade Three (20 measures); Third Progression
(107 measures); Coda Facade (37 measures)
Duration: approximately 20 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: July 1942, revised October 1942
First performance: August 1, 1942 (original version); October
20, 1942 (revised version)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 69-72
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1962 (Peters; 6795) [facs. and engraved]
(Revised version.) CHECK
Literature: Cage 1962e, 35; Cage 1982r; Cage 1993d, 8; Cage/Gagne and Caras 1982, 70; Cage/Helms
1972CONVERSATIONS/1978, 29, 31; Cage/Kumpf 1975; Cage/Raymond and Roberts 1980,
7; Hosokawa 1993; Kostelanetz
1988b, 12, 62.
Crete
Medium: piano
Extent: 12 measures
Duration: approximately 30 seconds
Date: circa 1945
First performance: unknown
Dedication: for Crete Cage
Sources: Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University Music Library
Publication: none
Literature: none.
Dad
Medium: piano
Extent: 17 measures
Duration: approximately 30 seconds
Date: circa 1945
First performance: unknown
Dedication: for Milton Cage
Sources: Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University Music Library
Publication: none
Literature: none.
Dance Music for Elfrid Ide
Choreography: Elfrid Ide
Medium: six percussionists; six players using handclaps, claves, rattle,
whisk, cowbells, 6 tom toms, slitblock (first movement); four players using
slide whistle, cymbal, toy piano, ratchet, squawker, bass drum, low tom tom,
three muted gongs (second movement); piano and two players using claves,
slapstick, rattle (third movement)
Extent: three movements
Duration: approximately 15 minutes
Dedication: for Elfrid Ide
Date: 1940
First performance: May 20, 1941
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 95-3 folder 1089-1090; Oakland,
California, Mills College
Publication: ed. Don Gillespie. New York: Henmar Press, 2006 (Peters; 68140) [score];
New York: Henmar Press, 2006 (Peters; 68140a) [parts].
Dance to the West
Choreography: Ruth Hatfield
Medium: piano
Extent: unknown
Duration: 4 minutes
Date: 1942
First performance: 1942
Sources: in the possession of the heirs of Ruth Hatfield
Publication: none.
Dance/4 Orchestras
Medium: orchestra divided into four groups; full orchestra: piccolo, flute,
alto flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet, 2
bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, tenor trombone, bass
trombone, contrabass trombone, tuba, timpani, 3 percussionists using ***,
piano, harp, 8 violins I, 8 violins II, 6 violas, 5 violoncellos, 3
contrabasses
Extent: instructions for performance (21 sentences); orchestra I (***
measures); orchestra II (*** measures); orchestra III (*** measures); orchestra
IV (*** measures)
Duration: approximately 30 minutes***
Commission: Dennis Russell Davies and the Cabrillo Music Festival
Dedication: for Dennis Russell Davies and the Cabrillo Music Festival
Date: January 1982
First performance: August 22, 1982
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 1030-1031
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1982 (Peters; 66911)
Literature: Cage 1982d; Cage 1993d, 133-134.
Daughters of the Lonesome Isle
Choreography: Jean Erdman
Medium: prepared piano
Extent: 482 measures
Duration: approximately 12 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: [prior to February 4] 1945
First performance: presumably February 4, 1945
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 123, 129
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1977 (Peters; 6785); repr. in John Cage, Prepared Piano Music Volume 2: 1940-47.
New York: Henmar Press, 2000, pp. 47-73 (Peters; 67886b)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 16; Hilger 1990, 41-47.
Demonstration of the Sounds of the Environment
Medium: three hundred people silently following a chance-determined path
through the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: none
Date: fall 1971
First performance: fall 1971
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Cage 1973h, xiii; Cage/Helms 1972CONVERSATIONS/1978, 27.
Dialogue
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Medium: two performers presenting any actions
Extent: ***systems
Duration: unknown
Dedication: none
Date: prior to August 12, 1967 [***Fetterman 1992, 341: according to
Cunningham, the first was done at the Walker Art Gallery]
First performance: presumably August 12, 1967
Sources: Budapest, collection Andrs Wilheim; New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24
folder 1007-1009
Evanston, Illinois,
Northwestern University Music Library, Room 209, file cabinet [1], drawer [4]. Dialogue (realization, 2 leaves, 36 cm,
yellow ruled paper, pencil) [***Fetterman 1992, 468 and transcription in
appendix VI, 458-61]
Publication: none
Literature: Cage and Cunningham/Todd and Cockrell 1981; Fetterman 1996, 121-124; Thorman
2002, 206.
A Dip in the Lake: Ten Quicksteps, Sixty-one
Waltzes, and Fifty-six Marches for Chicago and Vicinity
Medium: for any number of performers, listeners or makers of recordings;
transcriptions may be made for other cities, or places, by assembling through
chance operations a list of four hundred and twenty-seven addresses and then,
also through chance operations, arranging these in ten groups of two, sixty-one
groups of three, and fifty-six groups of four
Extent: ***
Duration: indeterminate
Commission: Raymond Wilding White for Chicago
magazine
Dedication: none
Date: prior to April 10, 1978
First performance: April 10, 1978
Sources: Chicago, Illinois, Museum of Contemporary Art; New York, Public
Library, JPB 94-24 folders 566-569, 1013
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1978 (Peters; 66761) [address list]
Literature: Cage 1993d, 105; Cage/Von Rhein 1982.
La Diva de lÕŌEmpireĶ (Erik
Satie)
Medium: an
arrangement of Erik Satie, ŌIntermezzo AmricaineĶ from La Diva de lÕŌEmpireĶ for brasserie orchestra [flute,
clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, two percussionists, piano, violin,
violoncello, and contrabass]; since the instrumentation is not identical with
SatieÕs, possibly arranged by Cage
Date: 1949
Dedication: none
First performance: December
17, 1949
Publication: none.
Double Music
Note: parts for player 2 and 4 were composed by Lou Harrison
Medium: four percussionists using six graduated water buffalo bells, six
graduated muted brake drums (player 1); two sistra, six graduated sleighbells,
five brake drums, thundersheet (player 2); three graduated Japanese temple
gongs, tam tam, six graduated cowbells (player 3); six muted Chinese gongs, tam
tam (slightly lower in pitch than third playerÕs), water gong (player 4);
substitutions may be made
Extent: 200 measures
Duration: approximately 6 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: April 1941
First performance: May 14, 1941
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 60-63, 931
Publication: New York [etc.]: C.F. Peters, 1961 (Peters; 6296) [score]; New York:
Henmar Press, 1961 (Peters; 6296a) [parts]; New York [etc.]: C.F. Peters, 1961
(Peters; 6296p) [pocket score]
Literature: Cage 1962e, 35; Cage 1991c, 63; Cage 1993d, 7, 37-38; Carey 1978; Griffiths 1981a, 13; Keezer 1970,
15-23; Parris 1961-1962.
Dream
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Medium: piano
Extent: 47 measures
Duration: approximately 6 minutes and 30 seconds
Dedication: none
Date: 1948 [presumably prior to May 7]
First performance: May 8 or August 20, 1948
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 146-147
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6707); repr. in John Cage, Piano Works 1935-48. New York: Henmar
Press, [1998], pp. 66-67 (Peters; 67380); New York: Henmar Press, 1974 (Peters;
6707a) [authorized arrangement for solo viola and viola ensemble by Karen
Phillips]
Literature: Cage 1962e, 7; Cage 1993d, 12; Francis, J.R. 1976, 33-34; Naglia 1989-1990.
Duet for Cymbal. See Cartridge
Music.
Duet for Two Flutes
Medium: two flutes
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: none
Date: 1934 [or 1935?]
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none
Literature: Kostelanetz 1988b, 67;
Rossum 1988, 20.
Ear for Ear
Text: vocalise on Ōe,Ķ Ōa,Ķ and ŌrĶ
Medium: two or more voices (the first g-f', the other or others b-d')
Extent: 11 systems
Duration: approximately 3 minutes
Dedication: for Ear magazine
Date: January 20, 1983
First performance: April 8, 1983
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: in Ear 8, no. 1-2
(February-May 1983), 1; repr. New York: Henmar Press, 1983 (Peters; 66957);
repr. Ear 15, no. 5
(July-August 1990), 18.
Eight
Choreography: Trisha Brown, Astral Converted
Medium: flute, oboe, clarinet in B flat, bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C,
tenor trombone and tuba
Extent: instructions for performance (3 sentences); flute (86 systems), oboe
(87 systems), clarinet (86 systems), bassoon (91 systems), horn in F (85
systems), trumpet in C (87 systems), tenor trombone (83 systems), tuba (87
systems)
Duration: between 59 minutes and 45 seconds and 60 minutes
Commission: Trisha Brown Dance Company
Dedication: Trisha Brown Dance Company
Date: before May 14, 1991
First performance: May 14, 1991
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 872
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67409).
Eight Whiskus (voice)
Text: John Cage
Note: transcription as Eight Whiskus
(violin)
Medium: solo voice (e-d'')
Extent: instructions for performance (8 sentences); I (6 systems); II (5
systems); III (5 systems); IV (6 systems); V (2 systems); VI (6 systems); VII
(5 systems); VIII (2 systems)
Duration: approximately 5 minutes (varies according to the tempi chosen)
Dedication: for Joan La Barbara
Date: November-November 21, 1984
First performance: May 14, 1985
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 623-624, 1042
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1985 (Peters; 67051).
Eight Whiskus (violin)
Medium: violin
Note: transcription of Eight Whiskus
(voice)
Extent: instructions for performance (11 sentences); I (6 systems); II (5
systems); III (5 systems); IV (6 systems); V (2 systems); VI (6 systems); VII
(5 systems); VIII (2 systems)
Duration: approximately 5 minutes (varies according to the tempi chosen)
Dedication: for Malcolm Goldstein
Date: March 1985
First performance: April 23, 1986
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 668-669, 1055
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1985 (Peters; 67051a).
Eighty
Medium: orchestra consisting of seven alto flutes, seven English horns, seven
clarinets in B flat, seven trumpets in C, sixteen violins I, fourteen violins
II, twelve violas, ten violoncellos
Extent: instructions for performance (1 sentence); each part 15 systems
Duration: between 28 minutes and 15 seconds and 30 minutes
Date: January-February 1992
Dedication: for Andrs Wilheim
First performance: June 17, 2009 (broadcast of recorded multitracked
performance); October 28, 2011
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folders 895, 900-901
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1992 (Peters; 67467)
Literature: Pritchett 1993, 203.
Electronic Music for Piano
Medium: any number of pianos with electronics (microphones, amplifiers,
loudspeakers)
Extent: 29 lines plus 1 system
Duration: indeterminate
Date: September 2, 1964
Dedication: for David Tudor
First performance: September 11, 1964
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1965 (Peters; 6801).
Encounter
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Medium: piano
Model: includes material used in Prelude
for Six Instruments in A Minor
Extent: I (36 measures); II (54 measures); III (52 measures); IV (149
measures)
Duration: 5 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: prior to May 12, 1946
First performance: May 12, 1946
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 127
Publication: none.
Essay
Medium: computer-generated tape
Description: installation using thirty-six cassette recordings [with voice on tape]
Text: John Cage, Writings through the
Essay: On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, 1985
Extent:
Duration: indeterminate (individual recordings circa 14 minutes [stratified
version]; circa 17 minutes [unstratified version]).
Dedication: none
Date: early 1987?
Realization: John Cage, at the Center for Computer Music of the City University of
New York, Brooklyn College, Charles Dodge, director, with the assistance of
Victor Friedberg, Frances White, and Kenneth Worthy; and at Synesthetics Inc.
with the assistance of Paul Zinman
First performance: presumably June 12, 1987
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 19** (Peters; EP 67180R)
Literature: Cage/Diliberto 1988.
Etcetera
Choreography: Merce Cunningham, Un jour ou deux
Medium: ***[orchestra consisting of] flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet,
horn, tuba, six percussionists using CHECK, two pianos, two violins, viola,
violoncello, and contrabass (all performers doubling on a non-resonant
cardboard box CHECK in addition to his instrument(s), each player using a
non-resonant cardboard box, preferably a transfer file box), three conductors
and magnetic tape (a recording of the environment in which the material was
written, made by David Behrman, late summer 1973, approximately 90 minutes)
Model: Antonn Bečvř, Atlas
australis 1950.0. Praha: Československ Akademie Věd, 1964
Extent: instructions for performance (*** sentences); 20 parts, each part ***
measures or systems, A-materials *** systems
Duration: indeterminate, but not longer than 90 minutes (***see score)
Dedication: none
Date: August 1973
First performance: November 6, 1973
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 426, 982, 1081
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1973 (Peters; 6812)
Literature: Cage 1979c, 182; Cage 1993d, 98, 246; Cage/Bosseur 1973, 31-32; Charles 1973b;
Pritchett 1996.
Etcetera 2/4 Orchestras
Medium: orchestra (divided into four groups) and magnetic tape; orchestra
consisting of piccolo, flute, alto flute, two oboes, English horn, two
clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet in B flat, bassoon, contrabassoon, four
horns in F, three trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba,
harp, four percussionists using any instruments with which sliding tones can be
produced, piano, twelve violins I, twelve violins II, eight violas, six violoncellos,
four contrabasses; magnetic tape recording made by Andrew Culver
Extent: instructions for performance (30 sentences); orchestral groups A I-IV
(40 systems); solos B1-5 (80 systems)
Duration: 30 minutes
Dedication: for Tōru Takemitsu and the Suntory International Program for
Music Composition
Date: December 1985
First performance: December 8, 1986
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 670, 1049, 1056-1058
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1986 (Peters; 67119)
Literature: Cage 1988c, 8-11; Cage 1990f, 444; Cage 1993d, 98,
141-142, 177, 179, 181, 246; Kostelanetz 1988b, 164; Pritchett 1996.
Etudes
Medium: piano
Extent: unknown
Duration: unknown
Dedication: none
Date: 1931 or 1932
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none.
Etudes Australes
Medium: piano
Model: Antonn Bečvř, Atlas
australis 1950.0. Praha: Československ Akademie Věd, 1964
Extent: Etudes I-XXXII, 8 systems each
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: for Grete Sultan
Date: 1974-1975
First performance: ***January 25, 1975? (partial); June 16,
1975 (Etude VII); November 18, 1975 (first consecutive performance of
I-VIII); March 10, 1977 (Etude
XII and XIII); November 4, 1977 (Etude XIV, XV, and XVI); April 23 and 25, 1982 (complete)
Sources: Berlin, collection Gelbe Musik; Bochum, Galerie Inge Baecker;
Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University Music Library; New York, Public
Library, JPB 94-24 folder 428-430, 984-985, 1081
Publication: copyist manuscript facsimile ed. by Carlo Carnevali, Wilmia Polnauer.
New York: Henmar Press, 2 volumes, 1975 (Peters; 6816a/b and c/d)
Literature: Block, R. and Freybourg 1983, 186-187; Brennecke 1982c; Burge 1976-1977; Burge 1979; Cage 1974f, 12-13; Cage
1979c, 184; Cage 1975d; Cage 1978c; Cage 1978e; Cage 1982b, 54-55; Cage 1982r;
Cage 1990f, 438; Cage 1993d, 93, 99-101, 107, 108, 245; Cage/Darter 1982, 20, 28-29; Cage/Retallack
1996, 125, 181, 192, 202, 203, 243; Clarke, G.E. 1977, 185; Clavier 1976; Garvey 1977; Hayes 1977; Kostelanetz 1993a; Kostelanetz 1997b; MM 1978 or after; Saxer 2000; Schroeder, M. 1993; Schulte, M. 1991a.
Etudes Boreales
Medium: violoncello, piano (the pianist also using fingers, nails, plectrum,
timpani stick, yarn-covered gong beater, rubber, wood and metal beaters) or
both; when these pieces are played together the title is Etudes Boreales for Cello Solo and Piano Solo
Model: Antonn Bečvř, Atlas
borealis 1950.0. Praha: Československ Akademie Věd, 1962
Extent: violoncello: each etude (I-IV) 12 systems; piano: each etude (I-IV) 12
systems
Duration: each etude approximately 4 minutes
Dedication: for Jack Kirstein (violoncello); in memoriam Jeanne Kirstein (piano)
Date: 1978
First performance: 1981 (violoncello); April 5, 1987 (piano and
violoncello)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 570-575, 1014-1017, 1082
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1981 (Peters; 66327) [piano]; New York: Henmar
Press, 1981 (Peters; 66328) [violoncello]
Literature: Cage 1985i; Cage 1993d, 105-108, 135; Cage/Holmes 1981, 2; Cage/Retallack 1996, 124; Cage/Timar, Frasconi, and Ingelevics 1981, 14.
Europeras 1 & 2
Text: indeterminate (varies according to arias chosen by the singers)
Medium: any number of voices, chamber orchestra consisting of two flutes
(flute 1 doubling on piccolo), piccolo (doubling on flute 3), two oboes (oboe 1
doubling on English horn), English horn, two clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet
in B flat, two bassoons, two horns in F, two trumpets in C, two tenor
trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion, two violins, viola,
violoncello, contrabass (amplified solo strings), magnetic tape (mix of 48
records called ŌTruckeraĶ), and organ ad libitum
Model: Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio
(1804-1814); Vincenzo Bellini, Norma
(1831), La sonnambula (1831); Georges
Bizet, Carmen (1875); Claude Debussy,
Pellas et Mlisande (1902); Gaetano
Donizetti, Don Pasquale (1843), L'elisir d'amore (1832), La fille du rgiment (1840), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835); Friedrich
von Flotow, Martha (1847); Christoph
Willibald Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice
(1762); Charles Gounod, Faust (1859),
Romo et Juliette (1867); Jules
Massenet, Manon (1884), Werther (1891); Giacomo Meyerbeer, Le prophte (1843); Wolfgang Amad
Mozart, Cos fan tutte (1790), Don Giovanni (1787), Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail (1782), Idomeneo (1781), Le nozze di Figaro (1786); Die
Zauberflte (1791); Modest Mussorgsky, Boris
Godunov (1874); Jacques Offenbach, Les
contes d'Hoffmann (1881), La
prichole (1868); Amilcare Ponchielli, La
Gioconda (1876); Giacomo Puccini, La
Bohme (1896), Madama Butterfly
(1904), Manon Lescaut (1893); Nicolai
Rimsky-Korsakoff, Le coq dÕor, 1907;
Gioacchino Rossini, Il barbiere di
Siviglia, 1816; L'Italiana in Algeri
(1813); Saint-Sans, Samson et Dalila
(1877); Bedr'ich Smetana, The Bartered
Bride (1866); Johan Strauss, Die
Fledermaus, 1874; Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Eugen Onegin (1879), La pique
dame (1890); Ambroise Thomas, Mignon
(1866); Giuseppe Verdi, Aida (1871), Un ballo in maschera (1859), Don Carlos (1867), Ernani (1844), Falstaff
(1893), La forza del destino (1862), Macbeth (1847), Luisa Miller (1849), Nabucco
(1842), Otello (1887), Rigoletto (1851), Simone Boccanegra (1857), La
traviata (1853), Il trovatore
(1853), I vespri siciliani (1855);
Richard Wagner, Der fliegende Hollnder
(1841), Gtterdmmerung (1874), Lohengrin (1846-1848), Die Meistersinger von Nrnberg
(1862-1867), Parsifal (1877-1882), Das Rheingold (1854), Siegfried (1871), Tannhuser (1843-1844), Tristan
und Isolde (1857-1859), Die Walkre
(1856); Carl Maria von Weber, Der
Freischtz (1821)
Extent: instructions for performance (24 sentences); Europera 1: flute
1/piccolo (610 measures); flute 2 (559 measures); piccolo/flute 3 (206
measures); oboe 1 (606 measures); oboe 2 (635 measures); English horn (295
measures); clarinet 1 (873 measures); clarinet 2 (720 measures); bass clarinet
(236 measures); bassoon 1 (610 measures); bassoon 2 (592 measures); horn 1 (378
measures); horn 2 (397 measures); trumpet 1 (451 measures); trumpet 2 (346
measures); tenor trombone 1 (366 measures); tenor trombone 2 (275 measures);
bass trombone (281 measures); tuba (302 measures); timpani (117 measures);
percussion (175 measures); organ (236 measures); violin 1 (470 measures);
violin 2 (489 measures); viola (456 measures); violoncello (553 measures);
contrabass (492 measures); Europera 2: flute 1/piccolo (336 measures); flute 2
(293 measures); piccolo/flute 3 (168 measures); oboe 1 (261 measures); oboe 2
(236 measures); English horn (87 measures); clarinet 1 (338 measures); clarinet
2 (496 measures); bass clarinet (136 measures); bassoon 1 (363 measures);
bassoon 2 (313 measures); horn 1 (187 measures); horn 2 (186 measures); trumpet
1 (177 measures); trumpet 2 (253 measures); tenor trombone 1 (111 measures);
tenor trombone 2 (140 measures); bass trombone (158 measures); tuba (130
measures); timpani (108 measures); percussion (66 measures); organ (110
measures); violin 1 (236 measures); violin 2 (273 measures); viola (269
measures); violoncello (200 measures); contrabass (203 measures)
Duration: 90 minutes (Europera 1); 45 minutes (Europera 2), separated by an
intermission during which the 3'40" film, Wagner's Ring, is shown non-stop
Commission: Oper Frankfurt
Date: between 1985 and early 1987 in New York [***begun after April 2, 1985
(date commission); completed early 1987; folder 673 dated June 2, 1985; folder
737 dated between December 16, 1986 and March 11, 1987; folder 750 dated
February 2, 1987; folder 738 dated March 28, 1987; folder 747 dated April 7,
1987; folder 745 dated April 28, 1987; folder 744 dated May 19, 1987; folder
736 and 743 dated May 27, 1987; folder 746 dated August 3, 1987 and August 11,
1987; folder 742 dated August 11, 1987; folder 675 dated August 19, 1987;
folder 676 dated July 12, 1987; folder 739 dated September 30, 1987]
First performance: December 12, 1987
Sources: Berlin, collection Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn; New York,
Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 671-750, 1059-1062
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1986 (Peters; 67100a [instructions (i.e. program
note and samples of the realization for the first performance); ***synopses?];
67100b) [instrumental parts]
Literature: Bernstein, D.W. 2001b;
Bobak 1992; Cage 1987j; Cage 1987-1988b; Cage 1993d, 206-211, 213, 241, 245, 255, 256; Cage/Anonymous 1987JohnPROGRAMbook***1990?;
Cage/Lohner 1989, 252-253; Cage/Metzger 1987; Cage/Metzger and Riehn 1987b;
Cage/Polling 1987; Cage/Schmidt 1988; Durner 1988; Fetterman 1996, 167-180;
Hunter 1988-1989; Kanold 1999; Kostelanetz 1988e; Kuhn, L.D. 1992; Kuhn, L.D. 1994; Lindenberger
1994; Lindenberger 1998; Metzger, H.-K. 1987; Piccolomini 1988;
Raimi 1987; Rebhahn 2001; Reininghaus 1989; Riehn 1987; Swed 1994;
Tappe 1993; Williams, H.W. 1993;
Zuber 1990.
Europeras 3 & 4
Text: indeterminate
Medium: eight voices [***any ranges], six in Europera 3, two in Europera 4],
two pianos [in Europera 3, piano solo in Europera 4***], at least six
performers using thirteen gramophones = 6 gramophone operators each operating 2
gramophones [with 300 78 rpm-discs in Europera 3***], 1 record operator
[operating 1 phonograph in Europera 4***], 1 lighting operator [using 75
projectors in Europera 3, 32 in Europera 4***]; 1 magnetic tape operator
[=Truckeras]
Model: Franz Liszt, Opern-Phantasien,
ed. Emil von Sauer. Frankfurt [etc.]: C.F. Peters, s.a. (Klavierwerke; vol. 7,
8), 2 vols.; Franz Liszt, Klavierwerke,
ed. Emil von Sauer. Frankfurt [etc.]: C.F. Peters, s.a. (Klavierwerke; vol. 12)
Extent: unknown
Duration: 70 minutes (Europera 3); 30 minutes (Europera 4)
Date: before June 17, 1990 (***Europera 3 dated June 1, 1990)
First performance: June 17, 1990
Commission: Almeida Festival, ETC CHECK
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 795-817
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, forthcoming (Peters; 67350)
Literature: Bernstein, D.W. 2001b; Cage 1993d, 249; Cage/Caux 1990; Cage/Fousnaquer 1990; Cage/Retallack
1996, 226, 309n12; Fetterman
1996, 180-183.
Europera 5
Text: indeterminate
Medium: two singers (the second chosen by the first), piano, Victrola,
magnetic stereo tape (labeled ŌTruckera,Ķ in six 30-second parts to be heard
six times during a performance), radio, silent television screen, light
operator using 24-48 lights, and director
Extent: *** systems
Duration: 60 minutes
Commission: North American Music Festival Buffalo and De IJsbreker Amsterdam
Date: completed April 1991
First performance: April 18, 1991
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 834-836
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, forthcoming (Peters; 67405)
Literature: Bernstein, D.W. 2001b; Cage 1993d, 203-204;
Cage/Retallack 1996, 201n24, 225-227, 230, 299-304, 306-309,
333-340; Fetterman 1996, 183-187;
Metzer 2000.
Europera 6
Medium: instrumentation unknown
Date: presumably never begun [or in 1992], unfinished
Sources: present location unknown.
Evne/EnvironneMetzment
Medium: a performer moving chairs and an audience possibly producing sounds
Extent: 3 sentences
Duration: 60 minutes
Date: summer-fall 1981
First performance: November 21, 1981
Sources: present location unknown
Publication [limited ed.]: Metz: Rencontres internationales de musique
contemporaine (poster with instructions), 1 p.
Literature: Cage/Masson 1981.
Exercise
Medium: orchestra consisting of an indeterminate number of soloists
Extent: 14 sentences
Duration: unknown
Date: November 1973; revised December 1984
First performance: November or December 1973
Dedication: for Marcello Panni
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 983
Publication: none
Literature: Cage/Bosseur 1973, 31.
Experiences No. 1
Choreography: Merce Cunningham, Experiences
Note: the original music for CunninghamÕs choreography was originally
composed by Livingston Geerhart and subsequently replaced by CageÕs music
Medium: two pianos
Extent: 112 measures
Duration: approximately 6 minutes
Date: 1945
First performance: January 9, 1945
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 148-150
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1961 (Peters; 6708a)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 11; Cage 1993d, 10; Erdmann 1993f, 104-109.
Experiences No. 2
Text: Edward Estlin Cummings, Tulips
and Chimneys (1923), Chimneys: Sonnets-Unrealities, III [***ttb]
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Medium: voice (range g-a' or any transposition)
Extent: 112 measures
Duration: approximately 6 minutes
Date: 1948, prior to April 21
First performance: April 21, 1948
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 151-153
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1961 (Peters; 6708b)
Literature: Brooks, W. 2007; Cage 1962e, 20; Cage 1993d, 10; Petkus 1986, 101-111.
Fads and Fancies in the Academy
Choreography: Marian Van Tuyl
Medium: four percussionists (player I: snare drum, handclap; player II: 2 tom
toms, handclap, washtub, brake drum, string piano; player III: piano, handclap;
player IV (in IIb only): metronome, metal wastebasket; player V (in IIIa only):
speech (one of the dancers)
Extent: I. Axioms. a. The Pupil Is Eager to Learn (68 measures); b. The Pupil
is Constitutionally Lazy (47 measures); c. We Deal with the Total Child (71
measures); II. A Short Historical Sketch. a. Reactionaries (60 measures); b.
Revolutionaries — Pitched Battle (55 measures); III. Vistas of the
Future. a. Pessimist (64 measures); b. Optimist (111 measures)
Duration: approximately 30 minutes
Date: July 1940
First performance: July 27, 1940
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 49
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 20*** (Peters; 67524) [score]; New York:
Henmar Press, 20*** (Peters; 67524a) [parts].
The Feast
Choreography: Nina Fonaroff
Medium: piano
Extent: unknown
Duration: 20 minutes
Dedication: unknown
Date: [presumably prior to April 29] 1945
First performance: presumably April 29, 1945
Sources: present location unknown
Publication: none.
Fifteen Domestic Minutes
Description: radio play consisting of nine parts for the playing of records at the
same time in different radio stations [Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles,
California; Washington, D.C.; New York], two seapkers (one male, one female),
all to be brought together in one station and rebroadcast live
Text: John Cage, after James Joyce, Finnegans
Wake. New York: Viking, 1939
Extent: instructions for performance (22 sentences); Denver, Colorado (three
parts, 59 systems and 3 diagrams); Los Angeles, California (two parts, 50
systems and 2 diagrams); Washington, D.C. (two parts, 38 systems and two
diagrams); New York (two parts, 26 systems and two diagrams); speech parts (two
parts)
Duration: 15 minutes
Commission: National Public Radio
Dedication: for Ev Grimes and the National Public Radio
Date: August 1982
First broadcast: November 5, 1982
Sources: present location unknown***, collection Ev Grimes; New York, Public
Library, JPB 94-24 folder 598-602
Publication: none.
Fifty-eight
Medium: concert
band consisting of 3 piccolos, 4 flutes, 3 alto flutes, 4 oboes, 3 English horns,
4 clarinets in B flat, 3 bass clarinets in B flat, 4 bassoons, 3
contrabassoons, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 4 tenor trombones, 3 soprano
saxophones in B flat, 3 alto saxophones in E flat, 3 tenor saxophones in B
flat, 3 baritone saxophones in E flat, 3 tubas
Extent:
instructions for performance (3 sentences); piccolo 1 (70 systems), piccolo 2
(65 systems), piccolo 3 (64 systems), flute 1 (65 systems), flute 2 (68
systems), flute 3 (67 systems), flute 4 (69 systems), alto flute 1 (63
systems), alto flute 2 (68 systems), alto flute 3 (63 systems), oboe 1 (64
systems), oboe 2 (65 systems), oboe 3 (67 systems), oboe 4 (69 systems),
English horn 1 (67 systems), English horn 2 (69 systems), English horn 3 (70
systems), clarinet 1 (71 systems), clarinet 2 (70 systems), clarinet 3 (67
systems), clarinet 4 (61 systems), bass clarinet 1 (69 systems), bass clarinet
2 (64 systems), bass clarinet 3 (71 systems), bassoon 1 (68 systems), bassoon 2
(61 systems), bassoon 3 (65 systems), bassoon 4 (68 systems), contrabassoon 1
(68 systems), contrabassoon 2 (65 systems), contrabassoon 3 (66 systems), horn
1 (67 systems), horn 2 (66 systems), horn 3 (70 systems), horn 4 (68 systems),
trumpet 1 (65 systems), trumpet 2 (65 systems), trumpet 3 (64 systems), trumpet
4 (66 systems), trombone 1 (69 systems), trombone 2 (65 systems), trombone 3
(67 systems), trombone 4 (66 systems), soprano saxophone 1 (71 systems),
soprano saxophone 2 (66 systems), soprano saxophone 3 (67 systems), alto
saxophone 1 (60 systems), alto saxophone 2 (67 systems), alto saxophone 3 (71
systems), tenor saxophone 1 (66 systems), tenor saxophone 2 (69 systems), tenor
saxophone 3 (64 systems), baritone saxophone 1 (67 systems), baritone saxophone
2 (64 systems), baritone saxophone 3 (68 systems), tuba 1 (65 systems), tuba 2
(64 systems), tuba 3 (67 systems)
Duration: between
44 minutes and 45 seconds and 45 minutes
Commission: Steirischer Herbst
Dedication: for Solf Schaefer and the
sterreichische Rundfunk for Musikprotokoll
92
Date: March 1992
First performance: October
11, 1992
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 894
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1992 (Peters; 67500)
Literature: Cage/Retallack 1996, 207, 243-244, 342-343.
First Chapter of
Ecclesiastes. See The
Preacher.
First Construction (in Metal)
Note: original title Construction in
Metal
Medium: six percussionists with assistant using tubular bells, suspended
thunder sheet (there are five graduated thunder sheets for players 1, 3, 4, 5,
and 6; this one gives the highest sound) (player 1); piano (with assistant
applying a metal rod on the strings used or slowly sliding the rod, pianist
using also a gong beater) (player 2); suspended thundersheet, suspended string
of small sleigh bells, twelve graduated oxen bells or graduated Balinese button
gongs suspended horizontally (player 3); suspended thundersheet, four graduated
muted automobile brake drums, eight graduated cowbells, three graduated
Japanese temple gongs (player 4); suspended thundersheet, four graduated
suspended Turkish cymbals, four graduated muted anvils or pieces of
non-resonant metal, 4 graduated suspended Chinese cymbals (player 5); suspended
thundersheet, four graduated muted gongs placed flat on pads, water gong, tam
tam, suspended gong (player 6)
Extent: 265 measures
Duration: approximately 9 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: November 1939
First performance: December 9, 1939
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 37-45
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1962 (Peters; 6709) [score]; New York: Henmar Press,
1962 (Peters; 6709a) [parts]
Literature: Cage 1959e; Cage 1959h; Cage 1961h, 20, 23-25, 28-30; Cage 1962e, 35;
Cage 1991c, 60-61; Cage 1993d, 6-7, 34-35; Duckworth 1972, 72-75, 84; Griffiths 1981a, 8-12; Hughes, E.D. 1990;
Kostelanetz 1970d, 127-128; Ravenscroft 2006; Rivest 1996a, 34-48; Williams, B.M. 1990, 61-108.
Five
Medium: any five voices (vocalise) or instruments or combination thereof
having specified ranges (1. d'-c'''; 2. c'-e''; 3. f-c'' sharp; 4. a flat-g';
5. e-b')
Extent: instructions for performance (3 sentences, 5 systems); each part 5
systems
Duration: between 4 minutes and 15 seconds and 5 minutes
Dedication: for Wilfried Brennecke and the Wittener Tage fr neue Kammermusik
Date: January 1988
First performance: June 27, 1988; April 21, 1989 (official)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 1066-1067
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1988 (Peters; 67214)
Literature: Cage 1993d, 246; Cage/Sweeney-Turner 1991, 4, 5.
Five2
Medium: English
horn, two clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet, and timpani
Extent:
instructions for performance (2 sentences); English horn (3 systems), clarinet
1 (5 systems), clarinet 2 (5 systems), bass clarinet (5 systems), timpani (3
systems)
Duration: between
4 minutes and 15 seconds and 5 minutes
Dedication: for
Mauricio Kagel on his sixtieth birthday
Date: May 1991
First performance: January
19, 1992
Sources: New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 862-863
Publication: New
York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67413)
Literature: none.
Five3
Medium:
trombone, two violins, viola, and violoncello
Extent:
instructions for performance (3 sentences, 1 system); trombone (47 systems),
violin 1 (21 systems), violin 2 (12 systems), viola (26 systems), violoncello
(25 systems)
Duration: between
39 minutes and 30 seconds and 40 minutes
Dedication: for
James Fulkerson and the Mondriaan Kwartet
Date: October
1991
First performance: June 28,
1992
Sources: New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 864-866
Publication: New
York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67420)
Literature: none.
Five4
Medium: soprano
saxophone in B flat, alto saxophone in E flat and three percussionists, player
I using any four instruments, player II using any three instruments, and player
III using any five instruments
Extent:
instructions for performance (7 sentences); soprano saxophone (8 systems), alto
saxophone in E flat (6 systems), percussion 1 (9 systems), percussion 2 (7
systems), percussion 3 (8 systems)
Duration: between
4 minutes and 45 seconds and 5 minutes
Dedication: to the
memory of Stefan Wolpe
Date: October
1991
First performance: April
25, 1992
Sources: New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 867-868
Publication: New
York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67430)
Literature: none.
Five5
Medium: flute,
two clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet in B flat and percussionist using any
five instruments
Extent:
instructions for performance (5 sentences); flute (7 systems), clarinet 1 (5
systems), clarinet 2 (6 systems), bass clarinet (6 systems), percussion (7
systems)
Duration: between
4 minutes and 45 seconds and 5 minutes
Dedication: for
Thomas Nee
Date: October
1991
First performance: unknown
Sources: New
York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 869
Publication: New
York: Henmar Press, 1991 (Peters; 67431)
Literature: Valkenburg 2010b, 93-105.
Five Hanau Silence
Medium: any number of performers recording environmental sounds of Hanau at
specified locations, dates, and times
Extent: 2 sentences, schedule, map of Hanau
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: none
Date: October 1991
First performance: unknown
Sources: present location unknown
Realization: W. Sterneck and others, April 6-16,1992, Hanau
Publication: in Cage and Sterneck 1992, 9-11; slightly different repr. in
Cage/Retallack 1996, 344
Literature: Cage/Retallack 1996, 244; Cage and Sterneck 1992.
Five Songs for Contralto
Text: Edward Estlin Cummings, XLI
Poems, 1925, Chansons innocentes, I (no. 1), II (no. 2); Tulips and Chimneys, 1923, Tulips,
Chansons innocentes, III (no. 3), IV (no. 4), V (no. 5)
Medium: voice (contralto) and piano
Extent: I. Little four paws (29 measures); II. Little Christmas tree (65
measures); III. In Just- (62 measures); IV. Hist whist (54 measures); V.
Tumbling hair [original title Another comes] (9 measures)
Duration: approximately 12 minutes
Dedication: none
Date: July 1938
First performance: unknown
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 31
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6710)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 20; Cage 1993d, 6;
Griffiths 1981a, 5, 6; Petkus 1986, 29-54; Pritchett 1993, 10, 14, 15.
Five Stone Wind
Note: earlier title Five Stone
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Medium: percussionist using nine spheric clay drums in three sizes and two
performers using indeterminate sound sources
Extent: part for Michael Pugliese (33 systems); part for David Tudor (31
systems); part for Takehisa Kosugi (extent unknown)
Duration: approximately 60 minutes (Michael PuglieseÕs part between 60 minutes
and 45 seconds and 61 minutes and 30 seconds; David TudorÕs part between 59
minutes and 45 seconds and 60 minutes and 30 seconds; Takehisa KosugiÕs part
between 59 minutes and 15 seconds and 60 minutes)
Dedication: none
Date: 1988
First performance: June 16, 1988 (partial); July 9, 1988
(complete preview); July 30, 1988 (official); December 6, 1988 (as Five Stone Solo)
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 769-772
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, forthcoming (Peters; 67389)
Literature: Cage, Kosugi, Pugliese, Tudor and Vaughan 1991[FIVE, NNB
LINERNOTESMode24].
A Flower
Choreography: Louise Lippold
Text: vocalise
Medium: voice (any range) and closed piano
Extent: 50 measures
Duration: approximately 3 minutes
Dedication: for Louise Lippold
Date: June 1950
First performance: possibly January 21, 1951; presumably
January 20, 1952
Sources: New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 944
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6711)
Literature: Cage 1962e, 21; Griffiths 1981a, 22; Petkus 1986, 112-117.
Fontana Mix
Medium: indeterminate instruments, sound sources or theatrical actions***; may
be combined with Aria, Concert for Piano and Orchestra, Solo for Voice 2, Song Books, WBAI
Note: Cage used Fontana Mix for
the composition of Aria, Sounds of Venice, Theatre Piece, Water Walk,
WBAI
Extent: instructions for performance (*** sentences); *** systems/diagrams
Duration: indeterminate
Dedication: none
Date: November 1958
First performance: January 5, 1959
Realization: for magnetic tape by John Cage, November 1958-January 1959, Milan, Radio Audizione Italiana, Studio di Fonologia Musicale, with technical assistance of Marino Zuccheri; the recorded sounds consisted of four categories: city, country, human, synthetic
Sources: Berlin, collection Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn; Beverly
Hills, California, collection
Betty Freeman; Los Angeles, California, Getty Center, 940073 box 4 folder 3;
New York, Public Library, JPB 94-24 folder 234-245
Publication: New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6712) [score]; partial repr. Aspen [New York] no. 7
(1968); New York: Henmar Press,
1960 (Peters; 6712a) [realization for 4 single-track magnetic reel tapes, 19
cm/second; 17 minutes each]; New York: Henmar Press, 1960 (Peters; 6712b)
[realization for 2 double-track magnetic reel tapes, 19 cm/second; 17 minutes
each]
Literature: Bttinger 1990; Cage
1959g; Cage 1962e, 39-40; Cage, John 1971FONT; Cage 1982r; Cage/Kirby and Schechner 1965,
61-62; Cage/Mimaroğlu 1965; Ernst
1977, 161-162; Hunchuk 1990; Pritchett 1988a, 3-4, 308-310; Pritchett 1996; Selmer Bandwagon 1971 or 1972; Stockhausen 1978A***; Thorman 2002, 45, 71,
73, 75, 84; Zuccheri 1962-1963.