A Performer's Guide to the Prepared Piano of John Cage

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A Performer’s Guide to the Prepared Piano of John Cage: The 1930s to 1950s.

A document submitted to the

Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Keyboard Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music

Sejeong Jeong

B.M., Sookmyung Women’s University, 2011 M.M., Illinois State University, 2014

______Committee Chair : Jeongwon Joe, Ph. D.

______Reader : Awadagin K.A. Pratt

______Reader : Christopher Segall, Ph. D.

ABSTRACT

John Cage is one of the most prominent American avant-garde composers of the twentieth century. As the first true pioneer of the “prepared piano,” Cage’s works challenge pianists with unconventional performance practices. In addition, his extended compositional techniques, such as chance operation and graphic notation, can be demanding for performers. The purpose of this study is to provide a performer’s guide for four prepared piano works from different points in the composer’s career: Bacchanale (1938), The Perilous Night (1944), 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864"

For a Pianist (1954). This document will detail the concept of the prepared piano as defined by

Cage and suggest an approach to these prepared piano works from the perspective of a performer.

This document will examine Cage’s musical and philosophical influences from the 1930s to 1950s and identify the relationship between his own musical philosophy and prepared piano works. The study will also cover challenges and performance issues of prepared piano and will provide suggestions and solutions through performance interpretations. By understanding how playing the prepared piano is different from conventional performance, pianists will enhance their musical and intellectual interpretations of these works.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I give thanks to God who have led, provided, and guided my life until now. Without his endless love and grace, it would not be possible for me to devote my life to piano. Also, I want to give special thanks to my dear professor, Awadagin Pratt for his musical guidance, inspiration, and encouragement. Without his teaching, I would have remained a young music student lost in vast world of music. He inspired me to be a strong independent pianist.

I also greatly appreciate my committee chair, Dr. Jeongwon Joe and committee member

Dr. Christopher Segall for their advice and effort on my final document. Special thanks go to

Dr. Jessica C. Hajek, who helped me with lecture recital and assisted me with the document proposal throughout spring and summer of 2018. Their passion and dedication gave me a sense of what kind of a teacher I want to be.

Lastly, my deepest appreciation and thanks go to my family and relatives who constantly supported me with endless prayers and love during six years of study abroad. Without their faith and prayers, I would not have been able to finish my doctoral study. Additionally, special thanks go to my dear husband, Jaehoon Ha, who has been supportive, trusting, and loving over the last few years. Without his encouragement and care, I could not have continued this persistent race to finish the degree.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...... 6

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ...... 7

LIST OF PICTURES ...... 10

CHAPTER

1. INTRODUCTION

Purpose of this study

Literature Review

Methodology

Document outline

2. JOHN CAGE’s MUSICAL AND PHILOSPHICAL INFLUENCES (1930s-

1950s) ...... 10

3. BACCHANALE (1938): EARLY PERIOD ...... 19 4. THE PERILOUS NIGHT (1944): MIDDLE PERIOD ...... 38

5. 34'46.776" FOR A PIANIST AND 31'57.9864" FOR A PIANIST (1954): LATE

PERIOD ...... 63

6. CONCLUSION ...... 80

BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 84

Bacchanale by John Cage. Copyright © 1960 by Henmar Press Inc. Sole Selling Agents: C.F. Peters Corporation, 373 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.

The Perilous Night by John Cage. Copyright © 1960 by Henmar Press Inc. Sole Selling Agents: C.F. Peters Corporation, 373 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.

LIST OF TABLES

Example 1 Table of Preparations of Bacchanale ………………………………………………. 32

Example 2 Table for Structure of Bacchanale …………………………………………………. 33

Example 3 Comparison of three metronome tempi for Bacchanale ………………………. 44-45

Example 4 Table of preparations for The Perilous Night …………………………………….. 52

Example 5 Table of each movement’s tempo and phrase measures ………………………….. 53

Example 43 Table of preparations for 34'46.776" ……………………………………………... 77

Example 44 Table of preparations for 31'57.9864" ……………………………………………. 78

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LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 6 Instances of colotomic structure (mm. 1, 16, 30, and 132 in Bacchanale) ………... 34

Example 7 Motivic rhythm in the left hand (m. 21 in Bacchanale) …………………………… 40

Example 8 Instances of cross rhythm and polyrhythm (mm. 3 and 27-28 in Bacchanale) …..... 41

Example 9 Instances of irregular accents (mm.3-5 and mm.62-64 in Bacchanale) ………... 41-42

Example 10 Instances of transition of time signatures (mm. 144-150 in Bacchanale) ………... 43

Example 11 Beginning of the B section (mm. 74-82 in Bacchanale) ………………………..... 43

Example 12 Sampling of descriptive tempo markings (mm. 1,10,74, 87 and 108 in Bacchanale)

………………………………………………………………………………………. 43-44

Example 13 Correlation between dance and fermatas (mm. 9-10, and mm.42-43 in Bacchanale)

………………………………………………………………………………………….. 46

Example 14 Example of phrases structure (mm. 1-10 of the first movement in The Perilous

Night) ……………………………………………………………………..………….... 54

Example 15 Example of phrase structure (mm.91-100 of the first movement in The Perilous

Night) …………………………………………………………………………………... 55

Example 16 Example of ostinato and repeated two notes (mm.1-8 of the fourth movement in The

Perilous Night) …………………………………………………………………………. 56

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Example 30 Performing a precise dynamic range (mm.75 -79 of the first movement in The

Perilous Night) …………………………………………………………………………. 62

Example 31 Performing contrasting dynamics representing Cage’s emotional state (mm.7-10 and

mm.31-35 of the first movement in The Perilous Night) ………………………………. 63

Example 32 Timbral pallet (mm. 1-3 of the second movement in The Perilous Night) ……….. 64

Example 33 Performing a pitched and non-pitched passage (mm. 25-36 of the second movement

in The Perilous Night) ………………………………………………………………….. 65

Example 34 Dynamic markings with and without the una corda pedal (mm.1-4 of the third

movement in The Perilous Night) ……………………………………………………… 66

Example 35 Example of slurred passage (mm.100-108 of the third movement in The Perilous

Night ……………………………………………………………………………………. 66

Example 36 Example of natural decay (mm.41-49 of the fourth movement in The Perilous Night)

………………………………………………………………………………………...… 67

Example 37 Contrasting dynamic characters between the hands (mm.1-9 of the fifth movement

in The Perilous Night) ………………………………………………………………….. 68

Example 38 Emphatic dynamic markings (mm.20-24 of the fifth movement in The Perilous

Night) …………………………………………………………………………………... 69

Example 39 Independence of sounds and dynamics between the hands (mm.1-8 of the sixth

movement in The Perilous Night) ……………………………………………………… 69

Example 40 Performing balanced dynamic (mm.69-72 of the sixth movement in The Perilous

Night) …………………………………………………………………………………... 70

Example 41 Example of counting quintuplet notes (mm. 125-132 of the sixth movement in The

Perilous Night) …………………………………………………………………………. 71

Example 42 Floating cadence (mm.145-162 of the sixth movement in The Perilous Night) …. 72

Example 45 Example of graphical notation (excerpt from 34'46.776") ……………………….. 81

Example 46 Performing numerous dots (excerpt from 31’57. 9864”) ………………………… 82

Example 47 Example of blank space for timings (excerpt from 31’57. 9864) ……………….... 83

Example 48 Instances of ‘A’ and ‘H’ notations (excerpt from 31’57. 9864") ……………….... 84

Example 49 Example of rhythmic notations (excerpt from 31’57. 9864") ……………………. 86

Example 50 Example of rhythmic notation (excerpt from 31’57. 9864") ……………………... 86

Example 51 My personal markings for actual performed notes (excerpt from 31’57. 9864") … 89

LIST OF PICTURES

Example 4 Picture of felt weather-stripping …………………………………………………… 35

Example 17 Picture of screwdriver used for all preparations ………………………………….. 36

Example 18 Picture of hardware gauge …………………………………………………… 36-37

Example 19 Picture of entire preparation of Bacchanale …………………………………..... 38

Example 20 Step-by-step instructions for inserting bolts ………………………………………..

Example 21 Picture of small bolt from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes ….. 50

Example 22 Picture of jar rubber from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes ….. 51

Example 23 Picture of nuts from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes ………... 51

Example 24 Pictures of clothespins between strings and two different sizes of clothespin …… 58

Example 25 Picture of the piece of wood wrapped in piano felt ………………………………. 59

Example 26 Picture of the insulted wire ……………………………………………………….. 60

Example 28 Picture of the rubber washer ……………………………………………………… 60

Example 29 Picture of select preparations for The Perilous Night …………………………….. 61

CHAPTER 1

The Prepared Piano as Performance Practice

1. Introduction

Compositional aesthetics and techniques constantly evolve and change. Many performers currently are asked to play new music with unfamiliar performance practices. As a pianist, I believe that performers need to address these trends in order to respond actively to contemporary music. John Cage is one of the most prominent figures in twentieth-century music and a leader among experimental trends in American art music. As such, his compositions represent a break in the definition of music and traditional limitations of Western music with his experimental methods—such as with chance operation. In some regard, his music can be considered as an attempt to avoid composer’s intention and purpose by accepting random happenings in music. He also extended the boundaries of piano performance practice through the new concept of the “prepared piano.” Prepared piano is defined as a piano in which the pitches, timbres, and dynamic responses of individual notes have been altered by means of bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects inserted at particular points between or on the strings.1

In Cage’s own words, the prepared piano came to embody his experimental philosophy of musical sound with “various materials placed between the strings of the keys used, thus effecting transformations of the piano sounds with respect to all of their characteristics”—as written in his

1 Edwin M. Ripin, Hugh Davies, and Thomas J. Kernan, “Prepared Piano,” in Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/o mo-9781561592630-e-1002252176, accessed October 1, 2018.

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score of The Perilous Night.2 I argue that, of all his innovative approaches to music making, prepared piano presents one of the most challenges to pianists outside of traditional performance practice. Furthermore, his graphic notation in his later prepared piano works is often unfamiliar to traditional classical pianists and difficult to interpret.

The purposes of this study are: (1) to discuss Cage’s vision for the prepared piano; (2) to identify the relationship between Cage’s musical philosophy and prepared piano performance practice; and (3) to provide detailed performer’s guides for selected works for prepared piano as developed by Cage over the course of two decades: Bacchanale (1938), The Perilous Night (1944),

34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954). After exploring Cage’s musical and philosophical influences, this study will discuss the formal definition and background of “prepared piano” as specifically envisioned by John Cage. The study will also focus on the performance practice of the aforementioned prepared piano works in chronological order. I will provide general background information and tables of preparations required for these works as a means of discussing specific challenges regarding performance issues and offering concrete solutions to these challenges. This study will also offer practical instructions for playing prepared piano to performers who may be new to or anxious about prepared piano and graphic notation.

2. Literature Review

A great number of scholars and musicologists have explored Cage’s treatment of and approach to prepared piano. The uniqueness of my document is to explore the difference in perspective between traditional performance practice and prepared piano performance practice.

Moreover, I will detail specific performance issues that pianists may face when tackling a range

2 John Cage, The Perilous Night (New York: Peters edition, 1960).

of prepared piano compositions. The guides I present in chapters three, four, and five are organized thematically, focusing first on performer’s challenges and solutions (especially in terms of experimenting with preparations) and then on performance practice (e.g., issues of rhythm, articulation, pedaling, etc.). In other words, my document will give not only Cage’s perspective, but also a pianist’s perspective to interpret prepared piano works.

James Pritchett’s book The Music of John Cage serves as a good introduction to Cage’s philosophy about music and sound. This book covers Cage’s entire life and musical influences in chronological order. This resource helped me to understand who John Cage was and to connect

Cage’s philosophy into his prepared piano works. Likewise, Laurie Hudicek’s dissertation also focuses generally on extended techniques on the piano, including the prepared piano.3 The author discusses some dangers and necessary precautions related to extended techniques and also introduces piano works for non-traditional pianists. Moreover, this dissertation contains a potential list of preparations that could be applied to a piano, including information about the size and the character of the sound. While providing some hints in terms of performance practice, these authors do not explore performance perspective in depth—which is the motivation for my research. I will cover an in-depth study of four prepared piano compositions, Bacchanale, The Perilous Night,

34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist representing his early to late prepared piano works and establish a general guide for prepared piano performance in addition to any transitional features specific to these four works as well.

As a practical tool, my performer’s guide is informed by many additional sources. For instance, Richard Bunger’s book The Well-Prepared Piano includes a forward by John Cage,

3 Laurie Marie Hudicek, “Off Key: A Comprehensive Guide to Unconventional Piano Techniques” (PhD Diss., University of Maryland, 2002).

which provides a practical resource for performers.4 This book contains detailed instructions on how to insert materials and a sample list of mutes—and is a must-have manual for pianists who are planning to play compositions for prepared piano. This book also guided me to narrow down the kinds and sizes of materials I would need to buy at the hardware store. Bunger also adds an appendix, which shows the open grand piano as prepared for The Perilous Night. It was a useful reference to begin the preparations for this piece. I also used Bunger’s categories to understand how different materials affect the timbres of prepared piano. However, Bunger did not designate any specific information regarding mutes for prepared piano works from the vantage point of a performer. In his book, I found some preparation techniques that could even be harmful to piano strings—even though the purpose of his book is to teach basic techniques to prepare a piano without any harmful effects to a piano as an instrument. My document will suggest other ways to insert the mute between strings more safely and will provide more specific information for selecting mutes for the four different compositions in relation to the desired sounds that they produce.

Tzenka Dianova’s book John Cage’s Prepared Piano: The Nuts & Bolts is similar to

Bunger’s study, as it also contains a manual for preparation and provides information about the skill level of the included prepared piano works. This resource provided much of the background for my analysis of Bacchanale and gave me an idea of how to approach the work. However,

Dianova focuses primarily on the technical aspects of preparing the piano and does not offer much as a guide for what pianists should do once the piano has been prepared.

4 Richard Bunger, The Well-Prepared Piano (Colorado Springs, Colorado College Music Press, 1973).

Likewise, Luk Vaes’s dissertation “Extended Piano Techniques: In Theory, History and

Performance Practice” extensively covers extended piano techniques in a historical context.5 The author categorizes Cage’s prepared piano as one such extended technique that was developed from the 1930s to the 1950s in the United States. Vaes also chronologically organizes Cage’s prepared piano works, which includes detailed information and appendixes of preparation materials for

Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes. This resource provided me a model to apply Cage’s original preparations to his earlier compositions, Bacchanale and The Perilous Night, and his later compositions 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist. However, this dissertation only focused on preparation practice from the perspective of Cage rather than on specific performance practice issues from the perspective of the pianist.

Simon Peter Anderson’s dissertation “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage: Towards an Understanding of Sounds and Preparations” discusses the historical background of Cage’s prepared piano and articulates some acoustic and physical elements resulting from preparation.

This dissertation helped me to understand the relationship between the kinds of mutes and their effects on the timbre of the piano. I also agree with his perspective regarding the influences of

Henry Cowell, percussion, and dance on Cage’s prepared piano. More pertinent to this project,

Anderson uses The Perilous Night as a case study to talk about the character of sound produced by two different pianists, Margaret Tang and Boris Berman, in their performances of this piece.

However, his analysis is more focused on physical gestures rather than performance issues.

Furthermore, in concentrating on just one piece, the author does not suggest any chronological differences between early to late period prepared piano works. My document will give insight

5 Luk Vaes, “Extended Piano Techniques: In Theory, History and Performance Practice” (Ph.D. diss., DocArtes of the Orpheus Institute and Leiden University, 2009).

regarding comprehensive and understandable performance practices for the four compositions as case studies from different stylistic periods.

Finally, Martin Iddon’s book John Cage and David Tudor: Correspondence on

Interpretation and Performance contains the extensive correspondence between Cage and David

Tudor, who is a pianist and one of Cage’s most important collaborators.6 This book documents their partnership from the early 1950s to the 1960s and presents Tudor’s interpretation of Cage’s indeterminate music, especially Music of Changes. This book helped me to understand how to approach graphic notation and chance music from the perspective of a pianist. However, this book did not present any guidance in terms of performance practice for prepared piano work that also takes indeterminacy into consideration. This is the purpose of my document, to present performance suggestions for not only to properly interpret Cage’s indeterminate music but also to offer guidance in terms of preparations on piano as a performance action.

3. Methodology

The nature of my project necessitates a hybrid methodology that will help me to determine not only the mechanics of performing on the prepared piano, but also Cage’s external motivations that will contribute to a more informed and comprehensive performance practice. In order to develop my performer’s guides, I will combine a review of relevant literature with my own experimentations preparing the piano and observations while performing the pieces. My research will begin with a discussion on Cage’s musical and philosophical influences from the 1930s to

1950s. I will trace Cage’s evolving concepts of music and the prepared piano to incorporate Cage’s

6 Martin Iddon, John Cage and David Tudor: Correspondence on Interpretation and Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).

non-musical influences (such as dance, Eastern philosophy, and literature) into my discussion of piano performance practice.

To experiment and practice with the preparations, I will use Bunger’s book The Well-

Prepared Piano as a manual to prepare works included in this study. Also, I will experiment with my personal piano at home, a Boston grand piano GP-193 PE model, for some light preparations.

The piano technician at CCM, Rebekah Joy Whitacre, will assist and help me for my practice preparations on university pianos—a Baldwin model L grand piano (located in the CCM dance studio) and Steinway & Sons model D grand piano—in order to prevent any possibility of harming them. I also want to mention that my performance guide will focus more on rhythm, articulation, and pedaling rather than harmonic analysis—as the harmony becomes a less important factor in prepared piano due to the altered pitches. Instead, I will pay attention to Cage’s prepared piano composition philosophy and performance issues related to timbre and character of sound. As previously mentioned, many of his early prepared piano works were written to accompany dance.7

Therefore, I will explore a variety of dance performance styles (including gamelan) to inform the piano performance practice for the piece Bacchanale.8

The Perilous Night is a more personal and emotional work than Bacchanale—and rather than dance, has literary influences. Therefore, I will apply the characteristics and mood of

Arthurian literature while analyzing The Perilous Night. Although this piece predates Cage’s shift to Zen Buddhism, I will also present information about his personal life during the time he was composing The Perilous Night that may have opened the door to his connection to Eastern philosophies in the years that followed. Moreover, I will use Cage’s surviving preparation kit for

7 Simon Peter Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage: Towards an Understanding of Sounds and Preparations” (Master of Philosophy diss., University of Huddersfield, 2012), 101. 8 Vaes, “Extended Piano Techniques,” 728.

Sonatas and Interludes (composed around the same time) as a reference for the preparations of this piece. Finally, 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954) are more complicated and difficult to perform because they are written in graphic notation with time length. Therefore, I will refer David Tudor’s realization and the correspondence between Cage and Tudor from Iddon’s book to develop a practical performance guide from a pianist’s perspective.

The goal of this research is to answer two questions in regard to the how’s and why’s of prepared piano performance practice. In general, my research will explore:

1) Are there any differences between traditional and prepared piano performance

techniques?

(a) If so, what are the specific challenges and difficulties that arise on prepared

piano?

(b) What are my solutions and practical suggestions for these challenges?

More specifically, using the case studies of Bacchanale, The Perilous Night, and 34'46.776" and

31'57.9864" For a Pianist, my research will reveal:

2) Are there different performance issues between Cage’s early and later works for

prepared piano?

(a) Is there a relationship between the musical and philosophical influences of John

Cage from the 1930s to the 1950s and his approach to the prepared piano?

(b) If so, what are the specific influences and how these can be useful for the

performance practice?

4. Chapter Outline

This document is divided into six chapters. Chapter one discusses the motivation of this

study, literature review, and methodology that are used for this document. Chapter two

explores John Cage’s musical and philosophical influences in an historical context during the

1930s to 1950s. This chapter will focus on four significant influences that are associated with

Cage’s prepared piano repertory: Henry Cowell, percussion music, dance, and Asian aesthetics.

Chapter three will look at Cage’s early prepared piano work, Bacchanale. This chapter begins

with a brief compositional background and table of preparations. To aid in the practice of this

piece, I then present a structural analysis and performance challenges with solutions that I

found through my experiments. Finally, I suggest a practical performance practice of an early

period prepared piano work, Bacchanale. Chapter four deals with Cage’s middle period

prepared piano work, The Perilous Night. This chapter also will provide compositional

background and table of preparations of work and deals with the problems associated with

preparing a piano for performance, including choices I made during my preparation. As a way

to begin establishing the differences between the performance practice of early and middle

period prepared piano works, I focus on the necessary physical approach to accomplish

dynamics and articulations of this work in particular. Chapter five will look at Cage’s last

prepared piano works, 34'46.776" For a Pianist and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist. This chapter

will begin by briefly examining issues in Cage’s indeterminacy, in addition to presenting the

table of preparations and how to decipher his musical notations. Most importantly, I will

highlight the difference between performance practices from two earlier works and what I call

the “dynamic preparations” of this piece, providing performance suggestions from the view of

interpreter. Chapter six brings together many of the issues discussed throughout the document

and uses them to establish a performance practice of the prepared piano. The chapter will both assert the difference between traditional and prepared piano performance practice and further consider difference between the early, middle, and late period prepared piano of John Cage.

CHAPTER 2

John Cage’s Musical and Philosophical Influences (1930s-1950s)

1. Henry Cowell: String Piano and Extended technique

From the 1930s to the 1950s, John Cage was exposed to various avant-garde musicians and artists. One of Cage’s first musical exposures was his meeting of Henry Cowell (1897-1965) in the early 1930s. Cage then studied non-Western and folk music with Cowell from the spring of

1933 to the fall of 1934 in New York.9 Cowell would become one of the most important composers to influence Cage’s musical direction. As a highly experimental composer, Cowell began extending the sound capabilities of the piano with a technique he named “string piano” beginning in the early 1920s.10 This was one of the first instances of altering the inside of the piano to create nontraditional sounds. In this way, he explored new timbral possibilities “by producing harmonics of the strings, muting the strings with different parts of the hands, or playing the strings with varying kinds of pizzicato.”11 His piano works Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925) require these extended techniques, including strumming and playing glissando on strings with one’s finger flesh or nails.12 As a dedicated student, Cage closely observed Cowell’s innovative technique and even helped perform his works. Lou Harrison described Cage as one of “Cowell’s pedal boys,” since on at least one occasion, Cowell asked Cage to depress the damper pedal while he performed inside of the piano for the demonstrations of The Banshee.13 The concept of “string

9 David W. Patterson, “The Picture That Is Not in the Colors: Cage, Coomaraswamy, and the Impact of India,” in John Cage: Music, Philosophy, and Intention, 1933-1950 (New York: Routledge, 2002), 177. 10 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 28. 11 Ibid. 12 John Cage, “How the Piano Came to be Prepared,” in Bunger, 7, quoted in Anderson, 28. 13 L.E. Miller, “West Coast Prelude (1917-1943),” in L.E. Miller and F. Liberman, Composing a World: Lou Harrison, Musical Wayfarer (University of Illinois Press, 2004), 11, quoted in Anderson, 29.

piano” inspired Cage to devise the idea of the “prepared piano”—in the sense that both composers were interested in the possibilities of playing inside of the piano. Cowell confirmed that Cage’s prepared piano originated from “knowing [Cowell’s] own things for the strings of the piano very well.”14 Cage’s earliest works showing this influence are Bacchanale (1938), First Construction

(in Metal) (1939), and Second Construction (1940). Bacchanale is Cage’s first true work for prepared piano, although in the score of First Construction, Cage still used the term “string piano,” defining it as: “Henry Cowell’s term for an ordinary grand piano, the strings of which are performed upon.”15 While Bacchanale is a solo piano piece, First Construction (in Metal) for

Percussion Sextet with Assistant and Second Construction are scored for percussion ensembles (a sextet and quartet, respectively). It is interesting that Cage categorized the string piano as a percussion instrument for these pieces, as the influence of various percussion-like sounds can also be heard in Bacchanale.

Cowell not only impressed upon Cage a new way to perform on strings, but also influenced

Cage in terms of performance directions in general. For instance, Cowell asked performers to use an extra object such as a percussionist’s beater in his Synchrony (1929-30).16 Cage’s late prepared piano works 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954) also requires extra instruments

(which I will explore in more detail in chapter four). Another example can be found in Cage’s The

Perilous Night, which shares similar performance notes with Cowell’s Sinister Resonance (1930).

Both works contain composers’ notes (by Cage and Cowell, respectively) that specify the type

(model) of the piano to play these works. 17

14 L.E. Miller, “Henry Cowell and John Cage: Intersections and Influences, 1933–1941,” Journal of the American Musicological Society, 59, No. 1 (Spring 2006), 55, quoted in Anderson, 30. 15 John Cage, First Construction (New York: C.F. Peters, 1962). 16 Anderson, 34. 17 Ibid.

2. Percussion: Composer’s Role, New Sounds, and Noise

As an advocate of percussion music, Cage regarded the potential for the prepared piano and the character of the music as sounds (e.g., unpitched or noise-like) that he wanted to explore.

Thus, Cage began to study a variety of sounds, including percussion music and percussion instruments from around the world.18 In his early period, Cage regarded his role as a composer as an inventor of new sounds and new instruments. Therefore, he had a need for and interest in new forms and new compositional techniques.19 At the time, Cage is quoted as saying: “Percussion is completely open. It is not even-open ended. It has no end. It is not like the strings, the winds, the brass… The strings the winds, the brass know more about music than they do about sound. To study noise they must go to the school of percussion... The spirit of percussion opens everything, even what was, so to speak, completely closed.”20 This philosophy allowed him to embrace even noise as a source for new music.

Cage’s initial attraction to percussion music came from his meeting with the abstract film maker Oskar Fischinger.21 Subsequently, Cage helped Oskar to compose music for his films and, in return, Fischinger’s philosophy strongly influenced Cage. Some of Fischinger’s most salient ideas include: “everything in the world has its own sprit which can be released by setting it into vibration”22 and “a sound made from wood had a different sprit than one made from glass.”23 This seems very similar to Cage’s concept of prepared piano, where Cage attempted to create a different sound on the strings by using different objects.

18 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 37. 19 James Pritchett, Music of John Cage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 11. 20 John Cage, Autobiographical Statement, 247, quoted in Anderson, 38. 21 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 38. 22 Cage, Autobiographical Statement, 239, quoted in Anderson, 38. 23 John Cage, A Composer’s Confessions, 31, quoted in Anderson, 38.

Moreover, Cage believed that percussion was the music of the future, which could be incorporated with any other musical sounds. He noted: “I [Cage] think of percussion as a beginning of exploration of the whole field of sound, with the goal being the use of electricity and film, which will make the whole field of use available for.”24 As an example, Cage organized a percussion ensemble with his close friends including Lou Harrison, Xenia Cage, and Merce Cunningham.

This ensemble held concerts that often featured experimental music. However, the high cost of maintaining a percussion ensemble and became an issue due to Cage’s financial situation in New

York at the time.25 These issues motivated Cage to devise new possibilities to achieve his sound goals. He is quoted as saying:

This was the beginning of the prepared piano, which is simply an ordinary grand

piano muted with a variety of materials: metal, rubber, wood, plastic, and fibrous

materials. The result is a percussion orchestra of an original sound and the decibel

range of a harpsichord directly under the control of a pianist’s fingertips. This

instrument makes possible the invention of a melody which employs sounds having

widely different timbres: as far as I know this is a genuinely new possibility.26

In this way, I interpret the prepared piano as the most practical solution for Cage because one pianist, with his or her ten fingers, can act as many percussion players. According to Cage, “With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano if you have at your disposal an ‘exploded’ keyboard.”27

24 L.E. Miller, “Henry Cowell, and John Cage: Intersections and Influences, 1931-1941,” Journal of the American Musicological Society 59 (2006): 96, quoted in Anderson, 48. 25 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 41. 26 Cage, A Composer’s Confession, 11, quoted in Tina Huettenrauch, “Three Case Studies in Twenty- Century Performance Practice” Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 2012), 61. 27 John Cage, For the Birds (London: Marion Boyars, 1981), 38, quoted in Anderson, 14.

The characteristics of prepared piano (e.g., percussive and muted sounds) also correspond to Cage’s thoughts on music, sound, and noise. Throughout his career, Cage questioned the inherent value of nineteenth century “Western” music. In his own compositions, rather than focusing on common-practice harmony, he placed more importance on rhythm. For instance, Cage states that: “Percussion music is revolution. Sound and rhythm have too long been submissive to the restrictions of nineteenth-century music… Experiment must necessarily be carried on by hitting anything – tin pans, rice bowls, iron pipes – anything we can lay our hands on.”28 To Cage, percussion music did not mean just making noise, but represented a new path for the future of music. In “A Composer’s Confessions,” Cage says, “The term ‘percussion’… does not mean that all sounds used are obtained by the act of striking or hitting. It is used in a loose sense to refer to sound inclusive of noise as opposed to musical or accepted tones. Therefore, just as modern music in general may be said to have been the history of the liberation of the dissonance, so this new music is part of the attempt to liberate all audible sound from the limitations of musical prejudice.”29 In other words, Cage wanted to expand the range of acceptable sounds that stretched

Western norm, and he desired to break these limitations through experiments with percussion music and, more importantly, the prepare piano.

3. Dance: Prepared Piano and Movement

The expanding influence of percussion music can also be seen in modern dance during the same time period. Beginning in the 1930s, it became more common that percussion ensembles were used to accompany modern dance classes. 30 In 1938, Cage was asked to serve as an

28 John Cage, Silence (London: Wesleyan University Press), 86, quoted in Anderson 51. 29 Cage, A Composer’s Confession, 9, quoted in Huettenrauch, 59. 30 Ibid., 13.

accompanist for a modern dance class at UCLA and later at the Cornish School in Seattle (now the Cornish College of the Arts). Cage met a lot of gifted dancers, including Merce Cunningham,

Syvilla Fort, and Bonnie Bird, who was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company.31 His position, which required composing music for modern dancers, inspired Cage to explore sounds without limitation; as Cage explains, “modern dancers were grateful for any sounds or noises that could be produced for their recitals.”32

Beside percussion, dance had the most direct influences on the creation of prepared piano.

While working as an accompanist, Cage composed his first prepared piano work, Bacchanale, for a dancer, Syvilla Fort. Fort’s performance of Bacchanale reflected a kind of African primitive dance and Cage initially wanted to create an African rhythmic-tone row similar to Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. Without any luck, Cage decided to alter the instrument (the piano) instead.

After Bacchanale, Cage kept working with modern dancers and, as a result, the majority of his early prepared piano works were written to accompany dance. It is logical, then, that many of these prepared piano works show modern dance influences. First of all, the rhythmic structure is irregular. Cage accounts the reasoning for this, stating: “In writing for the modern dance, I generally did so after dance was completed. This means that I wrote the music to the counts given me by the dancer. These counts were nearly always, from a musician’s point of view, totally lacking in organization: three measures of 4/4 followed by one measure of five, 22 beats in a new tempo, a pause and two measures of 7/8. I believe this disorder led me to the inception of structural rhythm.”33 Many of his prepared piano works often change time signatures irregularly, and in response Cage emphasizes the rhythmic figurations more. For example, in order to give the beat

31 Miller, “Henry Cowell and John Cage,” 47, quoted in Anderson, 50. 32 Cage, Silence, 86, quoted in Anderson, 51 33 Cage, A Composer’s Confession, 33, quoted in Anderson, 51.

to a dancer, he uses percussive articulations such as accents and sforzando. Cage also uses the rest to create a pause for the dancer between movements (choreography) and to divide the sections, which then creates the overall structure.

4. Asian Aesthetics: Indian Aesthetics, Zen, Silence, and Chance Music

In the late 1940’s, Cage was introduced to Eastern philosophy and this had a great effect on his compositional method. In 1946, John Cage met the Indian musician Gita Sarabhai, who introduced him to Indian aesthetics, including “the eight permanent emotions,” which are the erotic, the heroic, the odious, the anger, the mirth, the fear, the sorrow, and the wondrous.34 This was also the time when Cage felt frustrated and questioned the purpose of music after failing to convey his compositional intention of The Perilous Night (1944) to the audience at the premiere of this work. Strongly affected by Indian philosophy, Cage believed that “the purpose of music was not to excite the listener, but to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences.”35 Later, Cage aimed to portray these eight emotions in his Sonatas and Interludes

(1946-8), which is one of his major and largest works for prepared piano.36

In the 1950s, Cage also met D.T. Suzuki, a Japanese philosopher and leading authority on

Zen Buddhism.37 As a departure from Cage’s fascination with non-musical sounds and noise, this philosophy instead emphasizes the “void and supreme emptiness.38 Suzuki is quoted as explaining the philosophy of Zen in the following way: “That everything changes is the basic truth for each existence… Because each existence is in constant change, there is no abiding self. In fact, the self-

34 James Pritchett, Laura Kuhn, and Charles Hiroshi Garrett, “Cage, John,” in Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Accessed January 27, 2017, from http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid. 37 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 74. 38 Sam Richards, “John Cage as a Buddhist,” in John Cage As… (Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1996), 99.

nature of each existence is nothing but change itself, the self-nature of all existence.”39 Moreover, he also explained, “Without nothingness, there is no naturalness – no true being. True being comes out of nothingness, moment after moment. Nothingness is always there, and from it everything appears.”40 However, in Suzuki’s opinion, “People who know…the state of emptiness always

[have] opened the possibility of accepting things as they are. They can appreciate everything.” 41

This concept of “emptiness” and “nothingness” from Zen philosophy encouraged Cage to embrace silence as music as well.

Moreover, in early 1951, Christian Wolff, one of Cage’s students, presented Cage with a copy of the I Ching, which is also known as the Chinese Book of Changes.42 It is an ancient Chinese oracle text and the oldest of the Chinese classics, which contains a total sixty-four hexagram images that are chosen randomly by means of tossing yarrow sticks or coins.43 This became the main tool for Cage to begin writing in a form often referred to as “chance music.” For instance, in his Music of Change (1951), Cage borrowed the concept of the hexagram chart from the I Ching and used it to determine his pre-composed charts of sounds, dynamics, and durations. In Cage’s words, chance music means that “sound comes into its own.”44 In other words, Cage thought that one must “[give] up control so that sounds can be sounds.”45 Coincidentally, Cage expanded the possibilities of sounds along with this indeterminate technique. As a result, Cage came up with an innovative compositional method he called “time-length” works.46 During this later compositional phase, Cage titled compositions with their exact duration; 4’33 (1952) is a good example, showing

39 Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (New York: John Weatherhill, 1970), 102. 40 Ibid., 109 41 Ibid., 86. 42 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 70. 43 Ibid. 44 John Cage, Silence; Lectures and Writings. (Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 68. 45 Cage, Silence; Lectures and Writings, 72. 46 Pritchett et al., “Cage, John.”

both indeterminacy and the aesthetic of silence. This influenced his prepared piano composition as well—especially 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954). For these two pieces, Cage both wrote clock-time and graphic notation for the score (e.g., with complicated lines, dots, and random aggregates-notes). Such a compositional style allowed Cage to get closer to his ideal philosophical concept of music during this time—the unpredictable.

CHAPTER 3

Bacchanale (1938): Early Period

1. Composition Background: Syvilla Fort, Dance, Percussion Ensemble, and Gamelan

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the idea for prepared piano came about in 1938, when John Cage worked as an accompanist for a modern dance class. While working at the Cornish

School, Cage was asked to compose an accompaniment for a dancer, Syvilla Fort, for her graduation recital.47 Of some note, Fort was the first African American student who entered the

Cornish School. She choreographed Bacchanale to evoke the African-American ‘primitive’ technique, a term that was used in the 1930s by African-American dancers, despite its racialized implications. This type of dancing involves gestures revealing the body’s attachment to the earth, and also gestures that appear ‘weighted-down’ and heavy.48 Cage thought her body movement evoked an image of Africa and also felt that the title of ‘Bacchanale’ (which is a dance and drunken revel to the god of wine, Bacchus) suggested a type of primitivism.49 After seeing her dance, Cage envisioned a gamelan orchestra providing the accompaniment. 50 Cage said, “She’s done an absolutely beautiful work called Bacchanale, which has many textures that would be so right with the gamelan.”51

A gamelan is a traditional musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the island of

Java and Bali. There are many instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, gongs, and bamboo

47 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 13. 48 Ibid., 72 49 Ibid., 13. 50 Tzenka Dianova, John Cage’s Prepared Piano: The Nuts & Bolts (Victoria BC, Canada: Mutasis Books, 2008), 70. 51 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 13.

flutes.52 Although Cage wanted to compose a percussion ensemble piece to fit with the character of the choreography character, the performance hall was too small to accommodate the players and the music department could not even by a gong.53 Thus, John Cage decided to transform the piano into a percussion ensemble instead. As Cage mentioned for his prepared piano, “Composing for the prepared piano is not a criticism of the instrument. I am only being practical.”54

Inspired by Henry Cowell, Cage tried to put an object (a pie plate) on the piano strings at first. However, this did not work well as the object bounced around due to the vibrations.

Additionally, he also tried to insert small objects between strings.55 In her book, Tzenka Dianova mentions that the some of the weather-stripping muted stings produce sounds very similar to that of skin drums, and others to that of marimba; moreover, the combination of weather stripping/screw/nuts creates tambourine-like noise, and the single bolt alters the piano sound to resemble that of an Indonesian gong with a somewhat electric ring to it. In her opinion, the complete effect is that of African drumming combined with gamelan orchestra-like sounds.56

1.1. Table of Preparations

Bacchanale is Cage’s first true work for prepared piano and is an appropriate prepared piano work for a pianist who has no experience on prepared piano before. The reason is that a performer needs to prepare only twelve pitches and just one material is used per pitch—except for one note, B-flat 4 (see Ex. 1). Interestingly, whole pitches and preparations are written in bass clef

52 Bramantyo Prijosusilo, Indonesia Needs the Harmony of the Gamelan, last modified February 2, 2017, http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/archive/indonesia-needs-the-harmony-of-the-gamelan/423530/ 53 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 13. 54 John Cage, “Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano,” Accessed February 20, 2017. http://www.newworldrecords.org/uploads/filecqF8m.pdf 55 Pritchett et al., “Cage, John.” 56 Dianova, John Cage’s Prepared Piano, 71.

throughout the entire work. In total, there are only three materials needed to make the preparations: small bolts, weather stripping, and screws with nuts. More specifically, ten strings are half-muted with fibrous weather stripping, inserted between the first and second string of each pitch; another pitch is prepared with a screw and nuts between strings 2 and 3, combined with weather stripping; and yet another pitch features a single bolt between strings 2 and 3.57 However, Cage did not specify the position or the size of the mutes—except for one pitch with the written indication of

“circa 3 inches.” Otherwise, Cage’s only comment is: “Determine position and size of mutes by experiment,”58 which results in one of the biggest challenges for performers.

57 Dianova, John Cage’s Prepared Piano, 71. 58 John Cage, Bacchanale (New York: C.F. Peters, 1960).

Example 1: Table of Preparations of Bacchanale59

59 John Cage, Bacchanale (New York: C.F. Peters, 1960).

1.2. Structural Analysis

Bacchanale is difficult to categorize in terms of a classical formal structure. Because he wrote the music as dance accompaniment, Cage had to follow choreography first before he considered its overarching structure (see chapter two). For this reason, Bacchanale often shifts time signature, beat, and tempo. Although lacking a sense of organization typical of more traditional music structure, I have primarily divided Bacchanale into three sections based on tempo, mood, texture, and dynamics. (see Ex.2).

Sections A B A’

Measures 1-73 74-138 139-186

Example 2: Table for Structure of Bacchanale

The first A section is notable for its fast tempo and loud dynamic. The tempo alternates between ‘fast’ and ‘faster’, and Cage often changes time signature from 4/4 to 6/8 or from 5/4 to

3/4. Sixteenth, eighth, and quarter notes are the major rhythmic components in this section.

According to Cage, the character of this section is meant to be ‘primitive’ and barbaric, achieved through the driving sixteenth notes and accented quarter notes. The B section begins with a markedly slower tempo and mostly consists of soft dynamic markings such as pianisisimo and mezzopiano. In comparison with the first section, Cage scores thinner textures, which give a sense of stillness. The use of the una corda pedal in this section results in more percussive sounds with fewer pitches. From measure 139 to the end, the A’ section drives to the climatic ending by accelerating the tempo and getting louder dynamic. This section is similar to A section, but Cage uses more sixteen notes rather stressing quarter notes in order to give more urgent feeling.

Because of its connection to gamelan music, another way to approach this piece is through a consideration of colotomic structure. This term describes the rhythmic and metric structure of

gamelan music, in which a specific instrument like a gong marks the beginning or ending beat of a subsection or phrase.60 For instance, Cage marks F natural pitch with an accent at the beginning of the first measure. As mentioned previously, this note evokes the sounds of a single gong instrument due to its preparation with a small bolt. In measures 16, 30, and 132, Cage also places a strikingly dissonance chord to mark the onset of new sections (See Ex.3). Lastly, Cage inserted fermatas in order to allow for some flexibility between dancer and pianist. These fermatas usually come one measure before tempo changes.

Example 3: Instances of colotomic structure (mm. 1, 16, 30, and 132 in Bacchanale)

2. Performer’s Challenges and Solutions

During the process of preparing Bacchanale, I faced many different performance challenges. First of all, Cage specifically asks to use fibrous weather stripping in the preparation

60 “Colotomic Structure,” Grove Music Online, http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/o mo-9781561592630-e-0000006155, accessed June 25, 2018.

table. However, this particular material is not manufactured anymore. As a substitution for fibrous weather stripping, performers can use piano tuner’s felt or felt weather stripping. However, another problem can arise when the performer tries to insert the felt between the strings because there are various thicknesses and widths. Based on my experimentations, I recommend using 3/16th-inch thickness and 5/8th-inch width felt weather-stripping, which produces a sound very similar to that of skin drums and marimba. To insert the weather-stripping, performers can use a screwdriver to gently push down and in between strings. I recommend using 1/4” x 4” flathead screwdriver (see

Ex.4 and Ex.5).

Example 4: Picture of felt weather-stripping61

61 This is the preparation of C4 pitch with weather-stripping.

Example 5: Picture of screwdriver used for all preparations

The type of small bolt is also totally left to a performer’s taste. The bolt is meant to imitate the sound of a gong in the gamelan orchestra. Based on my experimentation, I recommend using a machine screw size M4 that is a half-inch long. Performers can use a hardware gauge that can be found at hardware store to measure and record the size of materials used (see Ex 6). Performers can try different sizes and thickness of bolts to experiment with to achieve the desired sound. I found this very useful while experimenting with my preparations as well.

Example 6: Picture of hardware gauge (front and back sides)

The intention of preparing the screw with nuts is to add a buzzing sound to the original pitch. A performer needs to choose a long enough screw with a large enough nut so that they rattle.

However, special care should be taken so that long objects do not touch the soundboard of the piano. If there is a possibility that this may happen (e.g., due to slipping down during performance), a strip of soft cloth should be placed underneath them so as to prevent possible scratches to the soundboard. For Bacchanale, I used a flathead screw size 10 that is one-and-half inches long with a nut, which creates a tambourine-like effect. The complete effect is that of drumming combined with gamelan orchestra-like sounds. Example 7 shows entire preparation of Bacchanale.

Example 7: Picture of entire preparation of Bacchanale62

After gathering all preparation materials, performers need to know how to insert these materials between the strings. Richard Bunger, an American composer and pianist who worked with John Cage, explains the basic way to insert a bolt using a screwdriver in his book The Well-

Prepared Piano (see Ex 8.).

Example 8: Step-by-step instructions for inserting bolts63

62 The piano is Steinway & Sons Piano model D. 63 Bunger, The Well-Prepared Piano, 7.

However, I do not recommend using this approach because putting force on a metal string with a metal screwdriver can potentially harm the strings. According to CCM piano technician

Rebekka, a piano technician’s rubber mute is a great alternative. Performers can insert a rubber mute between strings to make enough space before inserting materials—instead of widening strings with a screwdriver. Also, performers always must press the damper pedal both before inserting mutes and taking off mutes to prevent damage to the damper or string alignment. I used a 3-inch long and ¾-inch width rubber mute for all preparations.

A performer needs to find the appropriate piano model and brand to be able to prepare the piano and be satisfied with the altered sounds. In this piece, a performer should consider when the over string starts in low register. At first, I prepared a Mason & Hamlin A model piano before switching to the Steinway piano; however, it was impossible to insert the mutes on the Mason &

Hamlin down from the pitch D-flat 3 due to the over string. After this failure, I tried again on the

Steinway& Sons model B and the Boston grand piano model GP-193 PE, and it was possible to insert mutes on the lowest pitch (A2) through the over stringing. Therefore, it is the performer’s duty to determine the appropriateness of the piano models (in addition to the materials) when they are preparing this piece.

3. Performance Practice of Early Period Prepared Piano

My experiments with Bacchanale suggest that a performer’s approach to interpret this piece must be different from traditional piano techniques. First of all, Bacchanale does not have any melodic or harmonic phrases. Rather, the entire work is driven by (1) the rhythm, a majority of which are sixteenth-notes, and (2) with dramatic tempo changes. In his lecture “Defense of Satie”

(1948), Cage states that rhythmic structure is the only way correctly analyze the structure of his

music.64 Furthermore, in his article “The East in the West,” Cage criticizes the over-emphasis on harmony, characterizing it as “the tool of Western commercialism.”65 Thus, for Cage’s works, performers need to focus more on the rhythmic structure, timbre, and the physical properties of sounds created by the preparations (as the harmony becomes a less important factor in prepared piano due to the altered pitches). In this case, the entire work is driven by an extended ostinato bass, which consists of repeated sixteenth-notes based on A-Bb in the left hand (see Ex 9.). This rhythmic figuration appears throughout the piece.

Example 9: Motivic rhythm in the left hand (m. 21 in Bacchanale)

Cage also creates rhythmic tension in the right hand by placing accents on the offbeat or emphasizing cross rhythms (i.e., polyrhythm) with frequent changes of time signature (for example,

5/4, 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, etc.) (see Ex 10.). Performers should keep both the rhythmic energy and pace by counting the strong beat throughout the piece.

Example 10: Instances of cross rhythm and polyrhythm (mm. 3 and 27-28 in Bacchanale)

64 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 39 65 John Cage, “The East in the West,” Asian Music, 1, no.1 (Winter, 1968-69), 18.

One particular challenge in this section is the irregular metric accent in the right hand (see

Ex.11). This irregular metric rhythm creates tension and the accent markings add a sense of urgency to the mood of the piece. Yet, these irregular metric rhythms can also make a performer unsure of the beat. Moreover, the performer can confuse how long they have been playing because of the repeated sixteenth-note figurations. This problem is similar to the problem that can happen in minimalist works because of the extensive repetition of non-melodic content. To address this issue, I recommend that the performer make groupings of the same figurations in the right hand on the basis of the first accent beat in order to avoid the confusion. This is especially true in the A’ section, where the performer needs to count the strong beats while switching from 6/8, 4/4, 9/8 and back to 6/8 from measures 146 to 150 (see Ex 12).

Example 11: Instances of irregular accents (mm.3-5 and mm.62-64 in Bacchanale)

Example 12: Instances of transition of time signatures (mm. 144-150 in Bacchanale)

Another challenge is presenting the indicated dynamics—especially when a string has been prepared with a mute. For example, Bacchanale has many fortissimo dynamic markings. However, it would be difficult for a performer to make big sounds here because the weather stripping mutes the sound. I recommend playing those dynamics with a very fast attack and strong touch to the keyboard (rather than a deep and slow touch) in order to make bigger and more resonant sounds effectively and as a way to protect the performer’s wrist from injury through repetitive practice.

In the B section, the performer needs to pay particular attention to the contrast between the bass notes A and B-flat. Because this passage is repeated three times in a row, a performer must play this passage differently each time to avoid an overly tedious performance. Also, the performer needs to consider how slow of a tempo to take (see Ex. 13).

Example 13: Beginning of the B section (mm. 74-82 in Bacchanale)

As another way to drive the structure of Bacchanale, Cage does not indicate precise tempo or metronome marks. Rather, he only writes descriptive tempo markings such as “fast,” “faster,”

“slow,” “very slow,” and “slower” (see Ex. 14).

Example 14: Sampling of descriptive tempo markings (mm. 1,10,74, 87 and 108 in Bacchanale)

As mentioned in the first section of this chapter, overall, these tempo markings divide the piece into three sections, or Fast-Slow-Fast. Moreover, the dynamics remain fairly stable throughout each section. For example, the slow tempi section contains soft dynamics, and, by contrast, the fast tempi sections contain loud dynamics. While, the performer has some freedom to decide the exact tempo, pianists still need to consider the second aspect of Cage’s approach the sound of this piece, or dance, to make the appropriate performance decision. In particular, Syvilla

Fort choreographed Bacchanale to evoke the African-American ‘primitive’ technique, which is a type of dancing that involves heavy and animalistic gestures. Therefore, pianists need to interpret the tempo so that it’s never too fast to express these kinds of gestures (even if not present during the performance), except for the climactic ending.

I listened to the recordings of Bacchanale by two reputable pianists, Margaret Leng Tan and Stephen Drury. The example below shows the possible range of metronome markings for this piece; including the aforementioned pianists and my own suggestion (all markings are ♩= unless otherwise noted) (see Ex.15).

Tempo marking Measures Tan Drury Jeong

Fast 1-9 114 111 110

Faster 10-15 136 140 130

Fast 16-23 119 124 110

Faster 24-29 142 172 130

Fast (Tempo II) 30-42 142 173 115

Fast (Tempo I) 43-52 142 130 110

Tempo I 53-59 128 129 110

Faster (II) 60-73 135 139 125

Very Slow 74-86 118 65 60

Slow 87-107 ♪.=110 ♪.=76 ♪.=68

Slower 108-131 100 56 63

Slow 132-138 85 64 68

Fast (I) 139-171 99 99 110

Faster 172-186 112 116 122

Example 15: Comparison of three metronome tempi for Bacchanale

In general, Tan chose faster tempi than Dury. In addition, Dury played significantly slower in the middle section. My suggested tempi are a little bit slower than either of the pianists because

I think it is more appropriate for the stylistic character of a bacchanale dance that is meant to be ritualistic and primitive. Also, my suggested tempi will allow performers to better rest and more clearly articulate. The only exception is that I took a faster tempo in the last section because this is the most energetic and climatic moment of the piece, and doing so will create a more dramatic ending. A performer should make sure that similarly marked passages have the same tempo and that it remains consistent from the practice room to the recital hall. Additionally, the repeated

sixteenth notes in the left hand always needs to be steady in order to provide a consistent beat for the dancer.

As a final example of how pianists must maintain this piece’s connection to dance during performance, Cage always writes a ritardando followed by a fermata before a tempo change (see

Ex.16). Performers must keep in mind that a fermata means for a dancer to “strike a still pose” in terms of dance choreography. Thus, pianists should play these fermatas long enough in order to allow the (imaginary) dancer to complete her/his movement.

Example 16: Correlation between dance and fermatas (mm. 9-10, and mm.42-43 in Bacchanale)

In conclusion, I contend that the approach practicing the prepared piano is different than the way of practicing traditional piano pieces in the Western canon. Typically when performers practice the unprepared (i.e., traditional) piano repertoire, the intent is often to find the appropriate style and focus on the tone quality depending on the composer. However, Cage has purposefully left some of the meaning of sound in his works to chance (in this case, based on the performer’s

“experiments with preparation”). Still, I would recommend practicing preparing the piano itself to make sure that each sound is intentional and conveys some kind of meaning that the performer can

extend to the audience. To do so, I recommend practicing on a prepared piano as much as possible, because if the performer practices on an unprepared piano, she or he will become accustomed to a pitch-related experience and to pitch-related sounds. This experience will allow a performer to remain an active listener who is able to execute a myriad of timbres and allow him or her to better understand John Cage’s music.

CHAPTER 4

The Perilous Night (1944): Middle Period

1. Composition Background: Emotional Period, Joseph Campbell, Irish Mythology

The Perilous Night was composed in 1943-1944 and is one of Cage’s more mature works for prepared piano.66 It is his first large-scale prepared piano work and was specifically written for the concert hall.67 It also represents Cage’s transition away from thinking about the prepared piano as just a percussion ensemble or to accompany dance.68

This piece was written during a time when Cage separated from Xenia, his spouse, and the music reflects Cage’s personal loneliness. Cage describes this piece from an emotional point of view, stating: “The music tells of the dangers of the erotic life, the misery of ‘something that was together and is split apart’ and ‘the loneliness and terror that comes to one when love becomes unhappy’.”69 Cage also mentions that he “had poured a great deal of emotion into this piece.”70

The title comes from an Irish Folktale that Cage had read from a collection of myths by Joseph

Campbell. Specifically, the story is the Irish myth about “a perilous bed which rested on a floor of polished jasper.”71 In this particular story, the knight Gawain is faced with the nearly impossible task that he must survive through the night.72 This seems to hint at the personal troubles that Cage was going through at the time, as the ideas in the story resonate with Cage’s emotional state as his marriage was ending. In his dissertation, Anderson suggests that this piece acted as a window into

66 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 247. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 69 David Revill, The Roaring Silence (London; Bloomsbury, 1992), 85, quoted in Anderson, 247. 70 Pritchett, The Music of John Cage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 36. 71 Ibid. 72 Kay Larson, Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists (New York: The Penguin Press, 2012), 118.

Cage’s musical psychology as well. 73 He quotes Kenneth Silverman’s comments about The

Perilous Night as a metaphor for Cage’s personal separation, stating that “the pianist’s hands are

[also] significantly separated widely on the keyboard.”74

1.1. Table of Preparations: Comparison to Sonatas and Interludes Kit

In The Perilous Night, twenty-six notes are prepared with thirteen different types and combinations of preparations.75 The materials to be used include five rubbers, fifteen pieces of weather stripping, two double weather stripping pieces, a bamboo slit, nine screws, wood, cloth, four nuts, six bolts, and a rubber washer. Cage said that his mother advised him that “the effects would be better if [he] put natural things in the piano.”76 A table of preparations is included in

Example 20.

In comparison to Bacchanale’s rather straight-forward treatment of the preparations, Cage asks the performer in this piece to occasionally insert more than one material on the same note.

Also, he specifies where the materials need to be placed with the distance from the damper— although he still does not mention a specific size for screws, bolts, or nuts, which he leaves for performers to experiment with and decide for themselves. Interestingly, Cage also comments that these measurements apply only to a Steinway L, M, O, A or B model. Even if the performer does not have access to these models, s/he can try to prepare on the other model. I experimented with two other pianos—a Boston grand piano model GP-193 PE and Baldwin model L grand piano, which also work for this particular piece.

73 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 15. 74 K. Silverman, Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 2010, 58, quoted in Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 16. 75 Ibid., 249. 76 John Cage, For the Birds, 38, quoted in Anderson, 108.

There are not many resources that give a good indication of what type and size of material

Cage actually used for his prepared piano. The only surviving preparation kit that Cage used is for

Sonatas and Interludes (composed 1946-48). In these two boxes of preparation materials, one finds

“little paper envelopes with the preparation materials and a caption listing the content, one envelope per pitch and per material.”77 According to Cage’s original preparation for Sonatas and

Interludes, Cage used a 3/16” carriage bolt, 3/4” long as a ‘small’ bolt. (see Ex. 17).78 For the rubber, he used the rubber seal from canned fruit jars.79 The jar rubber ranges between 1 3/8” x

1/2”, 2” x 7/32”, and 1 1/2” x 1/4” (see Ex.18).80 All nuts are 1/4-20 square iron nuts, whereas the screws are mostly flathead iron wood screws, ranging from 10 gauge, 3/4” long to 14 gauge, 2” long.81 (see Ex.19).82

Example 17: Picture of small bolt from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes83

77 Vaes, “Extended Piano Techniques,” 972-973. 78 Ibid., 998. 79 Ibid., 972. 80 Ibid., 1008. 81 Ibid., 974. 82 Ibid., 1004. 83 Ibid., 998.

Example 18: Picture of jar rubber from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes84

Example 19: Picture of nuts from Cage’s preparation kits for Sonatas and Interludes85

There is even less evidence for how to apply this information to his other, earlier prepared piano works. However, I found this resource to still be a good baseline to start preparations for

The Perilous Night as five materials overlap with Sonatas and Interludes: rubber, screws, bolts,

84 Vaes, “Extended Piano Techniques,” 1008. 85 Ibid.

screws with nuts, and small bolts. The challenge for each performer, therefore, remains with the rest of materials—rubber washer (different from rubber), bamboo slit, wood, and cloth—for which we do not have Cage’s indications.

Example 20: Table of preparations for The Perilous Night86

86 Cage, The Perilous Night, 59.

1.2. Structural Analysis

The Perilous Night contains six separate movements. In this composition, Cage expresses his emotional state with meticulous musical notations in terms of dynamics, articulations, tempo marking, and even pedaling. Unlike Bacchanale, Cage writes the metronome markings for each movement. The table below shows each movement’s tempo and phrase measures, which one can see are organized as a palindrome (see Ex. 21).

Movement I II III IV V VI

Metronome ♩=176 92 80 ♩=80 92 ♩=176

Total 100 36 108 49 24 162

measures

Phrase 6+ 6 12 7 5+7 4+5

structure 1(rest)+3

(number of

measures)

Example 21: Table of each movement’s tempo and phrase measures

The structure of The Perilous Night imitates the structure of the story. Since each movement depicts a different atmosphere of the story, the performer should be familiar with the programmatic content of each movement. Overall, the myth deals with a “perilous bed” and its implied “dangers of the erotic.”87 More specifically, the first movement seems portray the difficult

87 Edward Crooks, “Perilous Nights and Shaggy Nags: The Influence of Joseph Campbell on John Cage,” Journal of Black Mountain College Studies, 4 (Spring 2013), “3. Case Studies,” para. 1, http://www.blackmountainstudiesjournal.org/volume-iv-9-16/edward-crooks-perilous-nights-and- shaggy-nags/, accessed September 24, 2018.

and dangerous situation that the knight Gawain faces in the story. Campbell mentions that this part of the story represents the knights being tested before achieving their romantic goals: “A number of knights had to experience the perilous bed before getting access to a lady.”88 The phrase structure also relates to the literature. Cage uses double bar lines every ten measures for the first half, and in every twenty measures for the second half—perhaps as the visual representation of the knight’s challenges getting more arduous during the night. Cage effectively uses silence between the knight’s “tests” by placing a whole rest to divide the phrases (see Ex.22 and Ex.23).

Example 22: Example of phrases structure (mm. 1-10 of the first movement in The Perilous Night)

88 Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (New York: Anchor Books, 1990), quoted in Gynocentrism, “The Myth of the Perilous Bed,” WordPress, October 6, 2013, https://gynocentrism.com/2013/10/06/the-myth-of-the-perilous-bed/, accessed September 24, 2018.

Example 23: Example of phrase structure (mm.91-100 of the first movement in The Perilous Night)

In the next movement, the story describes the polished jasper floor (which is extraordinary slippery) and the bed (which is mounted on wheels of rubies). Whenever the knight tries to get on the bed, the bed constantly rolls away from him.89 The fast, repeated passages of right hand from the second movement is reminiscent of the ‘slippery jasper,’ which continuously darts from the knight Gawain. Cage also writes double bar lines here at the end of every phrase, visualizing the story in the score in a similar way as in the first movement. More specifically, the second movement is built up as an arch structure in terms of dynamics and register. This movement begins with the dynamic p and gradually becomes louder. The middle section, from measures 19 to 24, is the climax, with active participation in both hands. In particular, the right-hand plays in a high register and then diminishes to the end. This arch structure is reminiscent of the part of the story

89 Crooks, “Perilous Nights and Shaggy Nags.”

“when he [Gawain] did finally mount the bed it bucked and raged,” which I interpret as the middle climax section.

The third movement consists of many slurs and much pedal usage. This, plus a slower tempo, creates an erotic and mysterious atmosphere of the storyline. Unique to this movement,

Cage also uses a repeat sign—as if he wanted to emphasize the nebulous character. In contrast, the fourth movement is quite minimalistic, meaning that Cage minimizes the dynamic range and reduces the number of scored pitches; for example, the right hand repeats ostinato eighth-notes,

G-flat and E-flat, and the left hand repeats two pitches, D and F throughout the entire movement.

This tense and ominous atmosphere is evocative of Campbell’s description at this point in the myth:

“It’s not finished yet. Keep your armour on and keep your shield over yourself”90 (see Ex. 24).

Example 24: Example of ostinato and repeated two notes (mm.1-8 of the fourth movement in The Perilous Night)

An abrupt opening of the fifth movement unfolds the plot only further: “And then arrows and crossbow bolts pummel him-bang, bang, bang, bang. Then a lion appears and attacks the

90 Gynocentrism, “The Myth of the Perilous Bed.”

knight, but he cuts off the lion’s feet, and the two of them end up lying there in a pool of blood…”91

The contrasting character in both hands, which plays opposite dynamics and articulation, clearly portrays the battle between the knight Gawain and a lion. Sensibly, the last movement coincides with the ending of story. At this point, the action comes to a conclusion: “When at last he (Gawain) had vanquished the perils, the female occupants of the castle appeared and tended his wounds.”92

In Cage’s music, after hectic and driven figurations, both hands become still and there is silence in the end.

2. Performance and Preparation Challenges and Solutions

The hardest challenge that I faced in preparing this piece was selecting the bamboo slit and wood. Returning to the author of The Well-Prepared Piano, Richard Bunger recommends constructing a bamboo wedge by shaving a bamboo stalk. But, I did not find this to be a good option, since it would mean that pianists would have to make a bamboo slit by themselves. As a substitution for a bamboo slit and wood, I suggest that performers can use a bamboo chopstick or half of a wooden clothespin that can be found easily in any store instead. I decided to use the clothespin because it produces a rich and mellow sound (plus, during my experiments, the chopstick did not stay in place: see Ex.25). Moreover, performers may want to cut the bottom of the clothespin if it touches the soundboard. I found that a smaller clothespin can be used for the higher register because the strings are thinner and the gap between the strings is narrower.

Similarly, a bigger clothespin is good for preparation on strings in the middle and low registers.

91 Gynocentrism, “The Myth of the Perilous Bed.” 92 Crooks, “Perilous Nights and Shaggy Nags.”

Example 25: Pictures of clothespins between strings and two different sizes of clothespin (small and big)93

Additionally, performers need to pay special attention to the preparation of the cloth. If the cloth is too thick, I found that it makes an unnecessary buzzing noise—as the first F1 string touches the second string. Since it is difficult to alter the thickness, performers should experiment to find the right width of cloth that works with their specific piano model. In my case, I even used a piano felt temperament strip to wrap the piece of wood (see Ex.26).

93 The first picture was taken from Boston grand piano model GP-193 PE.

Example 26: Picture of the piece of wood wrapped in piano felt94

For the rubber, performers can use rubber pencil erasers, a piano tuner’s rubber mutes, wiring insulation, a lamp cord, or canning jar rubber. I encourage pianists to experiment with each kind before selecting the material, as the difference between them is the degree of resonance and timbral changes. For example, a performer can choose the eraser and piano tuner rubber if they prefer a less sustained but more percussive sound—because these materials completely block the vibration of the piano strings. I recommend using insulated wire because, for me, it has the most resonant sound and because it sounds very similar to a wood block (see Ex 27).

94 This is the preparation for the E1 and F1 strings.

Example 27: Picture of the insulted wire95

Performers should not confuse the preparation of rubber and rubber washer. In The

Perilous Night, Rubber washer is used to insert on top of screw for B-flat 3. Performers can find this material in any hardware store. (see Ex 28.)

Example 28: Picture of the rubber washer

95 This is the preparation for the E6 string.

Lastly, performers should always keep in mind where the over string starts in the low register in regard to where to place the materials. For example, the bass note F2 string begins with the over string near the damper, which means pianists should insert the screw and weather stripping under the bass string. The bass note D2 string also crosses diagonally over the strings of the middle register, which creates problematic rattle sounds as the screw that is inserted between the upper and lower strings touches the lower string. As an alternative, performers can insert screws and weather stripping near the bridge to prepare these two notes. Example 29 shows part of the setup of my preparations for The Perilous Night.

Example 29: Picture of select preparations for The Perilous Night96

96 This is Baldwin model L grand piano (located in the CCM dance studio). Preparations for the high register are not shown in the picture.

3. Performance Practice of Middle Period Prepared Piano

My findings also suggest that different techniques for performing prepared piano works may be required depending on the time period in which they were composed. For instance, the goal of The Perilous Night is to express Cage’s emotions, and therefore the pianist should not approach playing this piece in the same way as Bacchanale. In general, the pianist should be aware of the changes to the sound made by the preparations, which in turn effects the physical approach of the pianist when playing—especially in terms of producing the dynamics and the articulations indicated in the score. The Perilous Night contains six separate movements with a broader range of dynamics (from pppp to fff) than Bacchanale. In this composition, Cage expresses his emotional state with meticulous musical notations. Different from his earlier work Bacchanale, Cage also has specific instructions regarding articulations, precise tempo markings, and pedalings in The

Perilous Night.

In the first movement, it is essential for the pianist to play the F3 note that’s prepared with the bamboo slit and bolt with a sound that is very much reminiscent of the Balinese gamelan instrument the ceng-ceng (or small cymbals) (see Ex.30). In order to express dynamic difference in this phrase, the left hand can assist by crescendo-ing on the third and fourth beats. For instance, in measure 79, the performer should drop more weight on note F to achieve a true mezzoforte.

Example 30: Performing a precise dynamic range (mm.75 -79 of the first movement in The Perilous Night)

As another example, Cage scores an Ab4, G4 and F#4 in the right hand, which are prepared with rubber and weather strippings, and imitate plucking sounds. Because this preparation mutes the sounds a lot, performers need an increased velocity to create a greater force of the hammer than playing on an unprepared piano that is needed to properly express the angular and harsh sounds of cluster notes in measure 8 with the forzando and the accented ff in measure 31.(see

Ex.31).

Example 31: Performing contrasting dynamics representing Cage’s emotional state (mm.7-10 and mm.31-35 of the first movement in The Perilous Night)

The second movement consists of six-measure phrases and all notes are written in the treble clef. In the beginning, the most prominent sounds in the right hand are meant to remind the audience of Gawain’s perils during the night from the story. This “interesting timbral pallet” is created by the rapid passages in the right hand, especially because they are prepared with many different materials: bamboo slit, bolts, rubber, weather stripping, and a screw and nuts (see Ex. 32).

Example 32: Timbral pallet (mm. 1-3 of the second movement in The Perilous Night)

One interesting challenge for performers in the second movement of this piece arises when the Cage scores both pitched and prepared notes simultaneously. For example, from measure 25, the left hand plays an ostinato pattern with more pitched notes when compared to the right hand.

Therefore, while the left hand can make a traditional diminuendo, the performer needs to adjust her/his right-hand technique to support and compensate for the preparations and achieve a noticeable diminuendo to the end (see Ex.33).

Example 33: Performing a pitched and non-pitched passage (mm. 25-36 of the second movement in The Perilous Night)

Movement three features a mysterious and erotic character. Unique to movement three,

Cage uses the una corda and damper pedal at the same time (see Ex. 34). The una corda pedal lifts the hammer of the strings to the right. As can be seen in the score, Cage indicated the use of the una corda pedal in measures one and two (marked pp), but not in measures three and four (marked p). Without una corda in measures three and four, the sound is naturally a little louder and fuller.

Thus, the performer does not necessarily have to intentionally increase the volume in these measures.

Example 34: Dynamic markings with and without the una corda pedal (mm.1-4 of the third movement in The Perilous Night)

In the third movement, Cage also wrote extensive slurs. I found that it could be challenging to play the legato on prepared piano since the muted strings tend to make more percussive and detached sounds. Therefore, the performer needs to pay more attention to the resonance produced by the damped strings in order to better connect the notes. Therefore, a performer might want to adjust or skip the preparation of weather stripping if she/he would like to produce more resonant sound (see Ex.35).

Example 35: Example of slurred passage (mm.100-108 of the third movement in The Perilous Night

The main thematic material in the fourth movement is sparse compared to the earlier movements. Cage scored a repeated figure of Gb4 prepared with rubber and Eb4 prepared with a bamboo slit and a bolt, which continues relentlessly throughout the movement like a heartbeat. I have interpreted this passage as Cage portraying his loneliness or feelings of nothingness, while also creating tension and terror. It is interesting that Cage uses the largest number of long notes with slur in this movement, but he did not choose to use the sustain pedal. For example, in passages where Cage indicated a diminuendo, I recommend that performers let the sound decay of its own accord (see Ex.36).

Example 36: Example of natural decay (mm.41-49 of the fourth movement in The Perilous Night)

The fifth movement demands some of the most creative solutions to performing on the prepared piano—as it breaks the silence from the end of the previous movement with an aggressive opening statement at a dynamic marking of fff with every single note being accented in the right hand. However, a performer will find that it is almost impossible to produce a fff volume on these prepared pitches. Instead, performers can focus on the characteristic rattle sounds from the screws and nuts and play vertically in order to express the accent and an approximate fff. Moreover, the

left-hand response features dynamics ranging between p and ppp, with delicately placed phrase markings. Keeping in mind Cage’s emotional state at the time of this piece’s composition, I recommend that performers should make this passage sound like two different characters arguing with each other because of the dynamic and articulation contrast in both hands (see Ex.37).

Moreover, the movement closes with an abrupt halt, and I suggest that the final six measures should be performed so that they can evoke Cage’s anguish and conflicted emotion, as emphasized by the dynamic marking of fff (see Ex. 38).

Example 37: Contrasting dynamic characters between the hands (mm.1-9 of the fifth movement in The Perilous Night)

Example 38: Emphatic dynamic markings (mm.20-24 of the fifth movement in The Perilous Night)

In the final movement, Cage creates and maintains an energetic rhythmic drive. The performer should be most aware that each hand has its own independence in terms of sounds and dynamics. For instance, the right hand produces a sound akin to the sound of a wood block and the left hand features both unprepared pitches and a more metallic sonority (see Ex. 39).

Example 39: Independence of sounds and dynamics between the hands (mm.1-8 of the sixth movement in The Perilous Night)

In particular, performers should be careful with balance in volume between two hands, since the left hand tends to overpower the right hand because of being scored in the lower register

and with a less muted preparation. In measures 67 through 72, the left hand needs to begin more quietly to balance with right hand—even though it is accented (see Ex.40).

Example 40: Performing balanced dynamic (mm.69-72 of the sixth movement in The Perilous Night)

There is a polyrhythm spot that the performer can be confused. (see Ex 41). In measures

127 through 132, the right hand has half notes-quintuplet. I recommend the performer to count half notes to keep exact tempo. Furthermore, the performer must balance the dynamic in both hands as the left hand tend to sound louder due to less muted preparation. In order to accomplish the decrescendo of right hand, the performer need to physically drop the first E7 than two subsequent notes because the performer cannot control the volume due to preparation of rubber. 97

97 All three notes sound very much like woodblock which means there is no difference in volume. Therefore, the performer needs to maximize the effect of beating.

Example 41: Example of counting quintuplet notes (mm. 125-132 of the sixth movement in The Perilous Night)

The conclusion of the sixth movement is contrasting to the rhythmic tenacity of the opening.

From measure 145 to the end, Cage creates a prolongation that acts as a kind of floating cadence

(see Ex.42). Its effect is the perfect disappearance of sounds. More specifically, Cage used gradually decreasing dynamics from mf, mp, p and pp. In my opinion, the performer can think of this as representing four different stages of descent. Within these stages, the performer also needs to pay attention to the change of the bass note from F to E in measures 153 through 154. I found it useful to think about this decay of sounds and visual notation of a distant register between the two hands as representing the end of the relationship between Cage and Xenia.

together

Example 42: Floating cadence (mm.145-162 of the sixth movement in The Perilous Night)

CHAPTER 5

34'46.776" For a Pianist and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954): Late Period

1. Composition Background: “The Ten Thousand Things”

After finishing the composition William Mix in 1953, Cage began working on a project called “The Ten Thousand Things.”98 In Cage’s mind, the goal of this project was to create a new compositional system that could substitute for the chart system he used in his chance music.99

Cage described his vision on the project to Boulez, stating:

From time to time ideas come for my next work which as I see it will be a large

work which will always be in progress and will never be finished; at the same

time any part of it will be able to be performed once I have begun. It will include

tape and any other time actions, not excluding violins and whatever else I put my

attention to. I will of course write other music than this, but only if required by

some outside situation.100

This quote shows that Cage wanted to compose more independent works for diverse media that could be performed independently or in combination with other pieces.

The project name, “The Ten Thousand Things,” is reflected in the overall structure of the piece. More specifically, Cage planned the structure of the piece to revolved around the following proportions: 3, 7, 2, 5, 11, 14, 7, 6, 1, 15, 11, 3, 15 (the total of these proportions consist of 100x100, or 10,000 measures— although, Cage actually reduced the final length to 100 units of beats in length, rather than 100 measures).101 In regard to this piece, Cage also mentions the symbolism of

98 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 100. 99 Ibid., 95. 100 John Cage, Letter to Pierre Boulez, May 1, 1953, JCA-16, quoted in Pritchett, 96. 101 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 96.

the number 10,000 in his chance-derived lecture “45’ for a speaker.” For Cage, this number symbolize the infinite in Chinese philosophy and writing. In particular, ‘the ten thousand things’ often appears in Taoist and Buddhist writings, as a way to refer to “the material diversity of the universe.”102

In the fall of 1954, Donaueschinger Musiktage commissioned Cage to write a new work for two pianos. Cage took this opportunity to write two additional parts for the project. Instead of writing two piano works, Cage wrote two pieces that could be performed either separately or together, or with the short string piece 26’1.1499’’ that he had composed earlier.103 The works he composed for the project were never published under the title “The Ten Thousand Tings,” and

Cage himself referred to it as “a large work which will always be in progress and will never be finished”; he seemed to predict the future since two of its components remained incomplete at the time of his death.104

34'46.776" and 31'57.9864" For a Pianist (1954) are Cage’s final compositions for prepared piano. As the tiles indicate, the lengths of these works are about 34'46.776" and

31'57.9864".105 However, during the premiere of these works, Cage and Tudor were not able to play within that specified time. As an alternative, they both agreed to play abbreviated versions by leaving notes out, and offered performances of the full version later to anyone in the audience who wanted to listen. This performance history offers some relief to future performers who plan to play these two works prepared piano but are anxious about Cage’s indication of the exact length.

102 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 96. 103 Ibid., 100. 104 Raymond Tuttle, “The Ten Thousand Things,” Fanfare: The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors, 39, Iss. 5, (May/Jun 2016): 206. 105 34'46.776" For a Pianist was written for David Tudor, who premiered Cage’s Music of Changes. Interestingly, Cage performed 31'57.9864" For a Pianist himself, since it is relatively easier to play than the first piece.

1.1. Table of Preparations: Indeterminacy

These two final compositions are more aleatoric than the other two pieces examined in the earlier chapters— Bacchanale and The Perilous Night. First of all, Cage indicates only prepared pitches, along with a suggested list of preparations; however, the exact choice of the materials and their position on the strings are left up to the pianists.106 In the score, Cage wrote: “Various materials are placed between the strings of a grand piano at points chosen by the pianists.”107

Unlike previous prepared piano works, Cage only indicates the notes that are to be prepared and the types of objects to be used in the table of preparation: metal (M); wood (W); cloth, fiber, or rubber (C); plastic, glass, or bone (P); and other and free (X) (see Ex. 43).108

Despite Cage’s suggested materials, their performance is meant to be indeterminate and depends on what kinds of materials the pianist prepares and their positions. For instance, there is an almost unlimited number of materials that can be used for pitches marked ‘X’. Moreover, this is the first time Cage asked the performer to use glass or bone—which may present new challenges for first-time performers.109 According to a German pianist Steffen Schleiermacher, pianists can use a small glass tube from a pharmacy for the preparation of glass. However, performers need to be extra careful when inserting, moving, or extracting a glass tube between strings because this material is easy to break in pieces.110 Personally, I do not recommend using a bone or glass because

106 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 129. 107 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist (New York: Peters edition, 1960). 108 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 100. 109 Anderson, “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage,” 129. 110 Steffen Schleiermacher is a German pianist who recorded complete John Cage’s piano music. I communicated with him about these two last prepared piano works, 31’ 57. 9864” and 34'46.776" For a Pianist via email and he shared some of his previous performance experiences of the two works.

they have a higher tendency to damage piano strings. Rather, as a substitute for bone, performers can use a small piece of wood because it sounds very similar to a bone.

Secondly, Cage also makes new kinds of demands on pianists, asking that: “In the course of a performance, preparations are added and subtracted, added to and subtracted from preparations, and moved along the strings.”111 For these complicated preparations, he marks where and when these actions should take place in the score. For example, he marks “Add X, 1077” to indicate that the pianist should “add any object before this note’s next appearance which is at second number

1077.”112 Moreover, he also gives further instructions to guide the performer, writing that: “PS means subtract from (partial subtractions), CS means subtract (complete subtraction).”113 However, to any performer unfamiliar with this work, both the table of preparations and score can still look like a puzzle (see Ex. 43). In total, forty seven pitches are prepared and listed in the table: eighteen pieces of metal; thirteen of wood; eleven of cloth, fiber or rubber; twenty one of plastic, glass or bone; and twenty eight of any other materials.

111 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist. 112 Ibid. 113 Ibid.

Example 43: Table of preparations for 34'46.776"114

114 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist.

31'57.9864" For a Pianist requires fewer preparations than 34'46.776" For a Pianist. In total, thirty-three pitches are prepared with at least eight different materials: nine of metal; eleven of wood; thirteen of cloth, fiber, or rubber; six of plastic, glass or bone; and twenty-three any materials (see Ex.44). As with the previous piece, performers might want to avoid any materials that can harm the piano strings. I suggest that performers can use paper, Q-tips, or anything gentle that can be inserted safely between strings.

Example 44: Table of preparations for 31'57.9864"115

115 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist.

1.2. Structural Analysis

Regarding the compositional technique for these two works, Cage is quoted as saying, “The title shall always be the length of the longer (-est) in minutes and seconds and decimal fractions of the latter followed by a suitable reference to the performers.”116 Therefore, the entire piece should be analyzed and understood by the time length as Cage mentioned in the score: “The total length

(see title) is divided into 5 large parts as follows: 4’44.95314; 8’ 17.493”; 2’ 33. 10674”; 6’

34.7184; 12’ 36.50172” and “The rhythmic structure is 3,7, 2, 5, 11.” 117

Beyond this, I found it to be impossible to analyze these two works in terms of traditional formal structure. Instead, the performer should think of the music as organized by a specific event

(or a “happening”). For example, the two works contain a blank space between the groups of notes, meaning rest or silence. Performers think of the sections between these spaces as a single event, and use the silence to double check their performance time and prepare for the next event.

2. Performance Challenges and Solutions

Compared to the two previous two works (Bacchanale and The Perilous Night), 34'46.776" and 31'57.9864” are more challenging for several reasons. More importantly, these pieces further demonstrate that the performance practice of the prepared piano is different from traditional piano performance and that individual prepared piano compositions require different techniques depending on the period in which they were written. In particular, these two final compositions are more aleatoric and require an unconventional performance practice. For pianists who tend to only perform music written on a grand staff, these graphic notations can be hard to understand and difficult to read. First of all, the score does not show traditional rhythmic values. Instead, Cage

116 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist. 117 Ibid.

indicated the length in three ways: “by the dots above, by the length of the line extending from the note-head and by stem connection to a line affecting an aggregate in time.”118

Secondly, Cage does not use traditional notations for dynamics and articulation. Instead, the music is presented as a “variant of the point-drawing system.”119 For example, there are three bands above the standard G clef and F clef in the score where Cage indicated the force of attack, distance of attack from the keyboard, and speed of attack, which are the three physical elements that determine dynamics on piano.120 Inside these bands, Cage marked numerous dots and lines to indicate the degree of the three aforementioned performance factors (see Ex.45). Pritchett comments that with this notation, Cage was trying to find “a pianistic equivalent of the string player’s bowing pressure notation.”121 Schleiermacher also discusses his approach to this notation system, stating: “Cage’s notation about dynamics or tone color adds to the difficulty…Here he applied a principle that he had introduced in the time length pieces for stringed instruments, namely the employment of one extra staff each for bow pressure, bow speed, and places of contact, and that makes very good sense on the piano.”122

118 Cage, 31’ 57. 9864” For a Pianist (New York: Peters Edition, 1960). 119 David Nicholls, John Cage, (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007), 66. 120 Nicholls, John Cage, 66. 121 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 100. 122 Steffen Schleiermacher, John Cage Complete Piano Music, Vol.4 Pieces 1950-1960, CD Booklet.

Example 45: Example of graphical notation (excerpt from 34'46.776")123

While practicing these pieces, I was somewhat unable to read the pitches and these numerous dots at the same time. Therefore, I recommend performers to mark separately the sections that require specific performance action. For example, between 156 and 160 seconds in

31’57. 9864”, Cage connects numerous dots for the degree of force rather than writing dots only.

Pianists can mark a crescendo/decrescendo here in order to play this section by becoming louder as the line goes up and play quieter when the line goes down. Also, pianists can mark and play trills for the indicated F and G-flat pitches (see Ex. 46).

123Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist.

Example 46: Performing numerous dots (excerpt from 31’57. 9864”)124

Thirdly, in terms of duration for this piece, Cage uses “clock time (minutes and seconds).”125 This means that there are no traditional measure or time signature markings, but rather a continuous gathering of events. Cage used numbers in the score to indicate the number of seconds between arrival points. This might be an influence of David Tudor, who played Cage’s

Music of Change with a stopwatch during his performance.126 Nevertheless, these two works are almost impossible for pianists to perform while watching both the score and a stopwatch during the performance. In order to track time, I recommend that performers divide sections using the blank spaces that Cage leaves between events. Performers can finish each section and then check their timing during the silence, before beginning the next section (see Ex.47).

124 Cage, 31’ 57. 9864” For a Pianist. 125 Pritchett, Music of John Cage, 100. 126 Ibid.

Example 47: Example of blank space for timings (excerpt from 31’57. 9864)127

Finally, the preparation of the other materials can be tricky if a performer is not familiar with prepared piano. One interesting material I used was a piece of aluminum foil to wrap the string (since Cage used this material in his Music Walk [1958]). A performer also can also use a piece of paper to wrap the string, although she/he will also need to fix it with a clip. On occasion,

Cage indicates non-staffed pitches that need to be prepared, like C’, or C’’’. Based on my analysis, the performer should be aware that C’ refers to C4.

3. Performance Practice

When performing these pieces, one must keep in mind Cage’s philosophy of chance, which requires more of the performer’s creativity. I recommend that pianists approach these pieces as though they were a new form of performance art form representative of Cage’s late period prepared piano works, which are different from traditional works and even Cage’s earlier prepared piano works. The performer’s role for these two works is therefore not only to just play notes on the

127 Cage, 31’ 57. 9864” For a Pianist.

keyboard but also to create sounds and noise with the entire piano instrument itself and with the aid of an auxiliary instrument. As an example, performers must begin 31’57. 9864 with an accessory instrument prepared ahead of time in order to have it ready when Cage indicates an ‘A’ on his score. I recommend using any wind instruments that performers can easily play with a single blow like a recorder or the Korean piri. Performers can leave these instruments hidden inside of the piano to use whenever it’s needed (see Ex. 48).

Example 48: Instances of ‘A’ and ‘H’ notations (excerpt from 31’57. 9864")

Compared to Bacchanale and The Perilous Night, dynamics and rhythms are less important in these two-late works. Regarding the three vertical lines above the staves that Cage wrote (i.e.,

the force of attack, distance of attack from the keyboard, and speed of attack), performers need to determine ahead of time the dynamics and sound color for every note. After that, they should write their decisions into the score with traditional dynamic and articulation markings such as f, mf, ppp, legato, sforzando and so on.128 Although it may take a lot of time and effort, these notes will help performers to express and fulfill Cage’s philosophy for these pieces.

In order to interpret rhythmic values (i.e., duration), performers should be aware that Cage notated these values in three different ways. First, the “♩” means as short as possible. Cage commented that “when there is only a note-head, it begins at a vertical left-hand tangent to the note, with this exception: that when there are half steps (seconds) so notated, the duration begins at a line between the two note-heads.”129 Another interesting notation is the line extending from the note head (see Ex.49). This stem does not mean eighth note, although it looks similar to it.

Rather, Cage connected a line to note heads in order to determine the duration. The performer should not confuse this with legato (as mentioned by Cage). The performer freely interprets this extended stem. Finally, Cage sometimes wrote the dots above the note head (see Ex.50). He did not mention how to perform this notation; so, I suggest that performers decide for themselves how to interpret this marking, but make sure to do so consistently throughout the piece.

128 Steffen Schleiermacher also recommends experimenting with these three vertical lines. This process needs to be included during practice. 129 Cage, 31’57. 9864" For a Pianist.

Example 49: Example of rhythmic notations (excerpt from 31’57. 9864")

Example 50: Example of rhythmic notation (excerpt from 31’57. 9864")

More importantly, I consider the goal of the late works to be to execute events that Cage asked for. Regarding performance practice of the prepared piano, Cage requires performers to change preparations during performance, which I denote “dynamic preparations.” For example, performers need to decide when they are going to move, add, or remove preparations. I suggest changing preparations during the break time, which Cage indicated with a blank space in the score.

I recommend that performers mark ahead of time with a post-it note on the strings that require the preparation changes and note the preparation actions on the score. For instance,

- Between 15 to 54 seconds, performer can move X (e.g., a piece of paper) along the

strings on D5#. Performer also needs to move rubber (e.g., piano tuner rubber) on

note C3.

- Between 174 to 187 seconds, performer can move X (e.g., eraser) on pitch D6.

- Between 197 to 201 seconds, performer can move XX (e.g., weather strippings) on

note F3#.

- Between 241 to 252 seconds, performer can move XPX (e.g., papers and plastic fork)

on note D2.

- Between 272 to 276 seconds, performer can add X (e.g., paper) on note F2.

- Between 297 to 308, performer can move X (e.g., screw) along strings on note A2

and B4.

As Cage intended, it is up to the performer to decide which preparation to execute.

Based on my own observations, performers also should mark pitches that should be played directly on the strings. Cage denotes these pitches with ‘H,’ which means playing on the harp (i.e., piano string) (refer to Ex.47). Performers can play these notes in many different ways, including,

“finger-muted; pizzicato, muted and pizzicato, struck with mallet, beater, or fingers.”130 At the beginning (between 0 to 15 seconds) of 31’57. 9864, Cage notates ‘H’ for six pitches: B0, B1, D6,

F3, B4, and Bb2 (see Ex. 48). However, based on my experience, it is impossible to execute every single notation in time. Thus, I stress that performers need to balance their performance choices

130 Cage, 31’ 57. 9864” For a Pianist.

between doable and undoable actions.131 While practicing, it is essential for performers to choose and decide which notes and preparations will be playable during performance. For example, at the beginning of 31’57. 9864, I decided to skip notes B1, which requires plucking the string, because it is not possible for me to play both the ‘H’ and the keyboard in this passage. At the same time, I also decided to perform as many notes as possible without an exact time alignment. For instance, it took me twice as long as Cage indicated. When approaching these late-period prepared piano works, performers must become confident enough to improvise by skipping notes and changing preparation actions, since it can be impossible to always play and properly execute what written.

However, it is my strong recommendation that performers must decide these changes while practicing and preparing the piano for these works so that they are internalized by the time of the performance.

Pianists can be assured that in fact, taking personal (yet consistent) liberties with the score are in line with Cage’s philosophy for these pieces. Even at the premiere of these works, the performers, including Cage himself, were not able to perform them for the specified length of time.132 Cage noted: “In the case of a notated impossible change, the pianist may act in one of various ways, for example, (1) alter the direction to one within his power, (2) ignore the direction,

(3) keep it altering the time, etc.”133 In a similar way, as Schleiermacher stated that “the interpreters

(performers) are given so many liberties in their playing that it is often impossible, on the basis of two different performances, to infer the piece lying behind the firm consistency, the recognizable of work, is abandoned.”134 Furthermore, he noted, the “[i]nterpreter’s [sic] responsibility acts

131 Schleiermacher also mentioned that it was impossible to play all notations, especially for the longer version. 132 Iddon, John Cage and David Tudor, 46. 133 Cage, 34'46.776" For a Pianist. 134 Schleiermacher, John Cage Complete Piano Music, 8.

almost as the composer…The boundaries between composition, work, and performance have been eliminated… one has to keep on asking all the time what is unplayable, and this at times is more of a psychological question than a pianistic one…Performers need to find the point of departure which has to be determined by performer-self.”135

When combined, the dynamic preparations, graphic notation, and clock time are all ways to encourage performers to be more flexible in performance. As I mentioned previously, performers should not aim to play all notes or notations written in score. Rather, I recommend playing one or two notes every second. As one strategy, I marked or circled notes and events that

I was actually able to perform in time. In other case, such as for elongated notes like F#1 and A6,

I pressed the sostenuto (middle) pedal to sustain specific notes value without interrupting other pitches (see Ex. 51).

Example 51: My personal markings for actual performed notes (excerpt from 31’57. 9864")

135 Ibid.

CHAPTER 6

Conclusion

Cage’s prepared piano asks performers to accept sound itself that comes from the preparations and open their minds to accept non-conventional sounds. Thus, performers should feel free to experiment with and create many different sounds as Cage himself intended. For me, the biggest difference between prepared piano and traditional piano is that prepared piano sometimes requires the unfamiliar action of preparation as the first step to performance.

Preparation can be a challenge to pianists because it requires a lot of effort and time. Performers should also know a safe way to insert mutes between strings and be aware of the proper size and length of materials to avoid any harm on the piano. At the same time, performers are allowed to experiment with preparation using different sizes and placements, even if Cage requires specific materials and/or distances. Sometimes, depending on the piano size and brand, the preparation can be difficult since each piano has different anatomy. Therefore, performers should become very familiar with their specific piano model, such as where to start the bass register or how close the bridge is to the hammer.

One of my most important recommendations is that pianists need to spend more time for making their preparations than for understanding the technical aspects of these pieces. Performers also need to consider the origin of prepared piano instrument and freely apply this knowledge to their preparations in order to achieve the desired sounds. In order to do so, performers need to familiarize themselves with the sound and other characteristics of various percussion instruments.

The materials Cage used most frequently are metals, such as bolts and screws.136 Bolts are used mostly for bass notes, whereas screws are primarily for the treble.137 Metal objects create the

136 Vaes, “Extended Piano Techniques,” 971. 137 Ibid.

sounds similar to the cymbal, bell and rattle. If one or more loose washers or nuts are added to the screws or bolts, they make further interesting timbres such as jangle, buzz, or clinking sounds.138

Pitches that are prepared with rubber also result in less-pitches sounds. Cloth materials such as weather stripping also mute sounds because they absorb the vibration of sounds. Thus, they also make a duller and more percussion-like sound. This sound is similar to a wooden gong or Chinese block, and may give the altered notes an exotic flare.

After the preparations are done, the performers must accept the resulting altered sound and perform according to the notation. Because sounds are altered and muted, the technique is different from that of the standard piano pieces. For traditional works, performers can express sensitive dynamic changes and distinct articulations. But when playing prepared piano pieces, performers face challenges in carrying out such details on altered pitches because it is difficult to express loud dynamics on muted notes. Therefore, performers need to adjust the speed and degree of attack on the keyboard. In addition, performers should be careful when they play pitches that are altered with metal and marked with soft dynamics. Because these pitches make rattle sounds, performers must press the keyboard slowly and gently. This technical change also applies to the articulation of these pitches since, for the prepared piano, legato and slur markings are hard to execute. I recommend experimenting with preparation by removing mutes or by using fewer preparations to better achieve Cage’s notations, especially dynamics and articulations.

If it can be said that traditional performance practice is focused on tone quality and stylistic interpretation, then prepared piano requires more focus on rhythmic and timbral gestures (since

Cage’s prepared piano works do not focus on lyrical melodies or harmonic progression). Thus, performers do not need to spend their energy on differentiating voices or analyzing tonality. This

138 Bunger, The Well-Prepared Piano, 13.

makes a huge difference once performance begins. This realization should be used to help performers rhythmically organize these works and execute proper timbral characters on each note.

Additionally, prepared piano works require different approaches depending on the time period in which they were written, as Cage’s musical thinking changed over time. On the one hand, his earlier works were primarily written as dance accompaniment, which requires performers to evoke choreography and characteristics of dance. For Bacchanale, pianists must know the characteristics of the dance if was composed for—primitive and ritualistic. On the other hand, prepared piano works from Cage’s middle period were written as he explored more unconventional sounds and require more extensive preparation. It is during his middle period that Cage firmly established a new definition of music: accepting any sound, including noise and silence, as music.

Thus, performers must put forth additional effort to understand the aesthetics of these middle- period pieces and perform them. In The Perilous Night, Cage specified not only the materials that need to be prepared but also the distance that materials need to be placed on strings. In the score,

Cage also wrote meticulous notations for articulations, dynamics, and pedaling on each note. In order to interpret his notations, pianists need to adjust their physical gestures to produce the desired sounds.

Finally, Cage explored aleatoric methods and endless possibilities of sound and silence as music in his late-period prepared piano works, which presents additional challenges to performers.

In addition, performers need to utilize various performance options by utilizing accessory instruments and creating noise during performance. During this final period, Cage promoted the role of the pianists as collaborate ‘creators’ of his works. By choosing one’s own performance practice that incorporates freedom and chance in Cage’s late prepared piano works, the performer’s role becomes something between a composer and an improviser. It is my conviction that once a

pianist masters Cage’s new definition of music and shows the revised role of the performers through his/her performances of the works from Cage’s late period it will open the door for other performers and the audience as well to recognize the musicality of the sounds that they had never thought of as music.

Bibliography

Books Bunger, Richard. The Well-Prepared Piano. Colorado Springs: Colorado College Music Press, 1973.

Cage, John. Silence. London: Wesleyan University Press, 1973.

—————. Silence; Lectures and writings. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 1961.

Dianova, Tzenka. John Cage’s Prepared Piano: The Nuts & Bolts. Victoria, Canada: Mutasis Books, 2008.

Iddon, Martin. John Cage and David Tudor: Correspondence on Interpretation and Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Larson, Kay. Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists. New York: The Penguin Press, 2012.

Miller, L.E. and Frederic Liberman. Composing a World: Lou Harrison, Musical Wayfarer, University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Patterson, David W. John Cage: Music, Philosophy, and Intention, 1933-1950. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Pritchett, James. The Music of John Cage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Richards, Sam. John Cage As… Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1996.

Scores Cage, John. Bacchanale. New York: Peters edition, 1960.

—————. The Perilous Night. New York: Peters edition, 1960.

—————. 34'46.776" For a Pianist. New York: Peters edition, 1960.

—————. 31'57.9864" For a Pianist. New York: Peters edition, 1960.

Dissertations & Theses Anderson, Simon Peter. “The Prepared Piano Music of John Cage: Towards an Understanding of Sounds and Preparations,” Master’s thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2012.

Hudicek, Laurie Marie. “Off Key: A Comprehensive Guide to Unconventional Piano Techniques.” PhD diss., University of Maryland, 2002.

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Vaes, Luk. “Extended Piano Techniques: In Theory, History and Performance Practice.” Ph.D. diss., DocArtes of the Orpheus Institute and Leiden University, 2009.

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—————. “The East in the West.” Asian Music 1, no. 1 (1946/1969): 15-18.

Crooks, Edward. “Perilous Nights and Shaggy Nags: The Influence of Joseph Campbell on John Cage.” Journal of Black Mountain College Studies, Vol. 4 (Spring 2013). http://www.blackmountainstudiesjournal.org/volume-iv-9-16/edward-crooks-perilous- nights-and-shaggy-nags/. Accessed September 24, 2018.

Kahn, Douglas. “John Cage: Silence and Silencing.” The Musical Quarterly, 81, no. 4 (Winter 1997): 556-598.

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Davies, Hugh. “Instrumental Modifications and Extended Performance Techniques.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Accessed January 27, 2018.

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Blogs/Social Media Gynocentrism. “The Myth of the Perilous Bed.” WordPress, October 6, 2013, https://gynocentrism.com/2013/10/06/the-myth-of-the-perilous-bed/. Accessed September 24, 2018.

CDs Schleiermacher, Steffen. John Cage Complete Piano Music Vol.4 Pieces 1950-1960, MDG 6130787-2, 1999.