Conceptual Music John Cage (1912-1992) Influences & Interests John Cage (1912-1992) ! Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): American transcendentalist writer ! Eric Satie (1866-1925): French composer ! James Joyce (1882-1941): Irish writer and poet ! Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968): French-American dada artist ! R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983): American architect and inventor ! Marshall McCluhan (1911-1980): Canadian communications theorist ! Percussion music ! Dance ! Eastern Philosophy ! Chess ! Mycology Dadaism Marcel Duchamp “readymades” !The Bicycle Wheel (1915) #In Advance of a Broken Arm (1915) "Fountain (1917) Dadaism $ Marcel Duchamp: LHOOQ (1919) French Transliteration: “LHOOQ” = Elle a chaud au cul. (“She has a hot ass.”) John Cage: Background and Concepts ! Composition studies with Henry Cowell and Arnold Schönberg ! Early works for percussion ensemble explore boundaries between “noise” and so-called “musical” sounds: Construction series (1939-41) and Imaginary Landscape series (1939-52), among others. ! The Future of Music: Credo (1937): use of electronics anticipated ! Form treated as an open, pre-formed “container”: sounds related only in time, materials carefully chosen, relationships arbitrary. ! Introduces “prepared piano” with Bacchanale (1940) Prepared Piano " John Cage preparing a piano. $ Detail of pianos prepared by Cage. Prepared Piano Prepared Piano Diagrams: from Richard Bunger, The Well-Prepared Piano (1981) John Cage: Preface to Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1948) John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes (1948)—Interlude No. 4 John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes (1948)—Interlude No. 4 Indeterminacy and Aleatory John Cage: Background and Concepts ! Composition studies with Henry Cowell and Arnold Schönberg ! Early works for percussion ensemble explore boundaries between “noise” and so-called “musical” sounds: Construction series (1939-41) and Imaginary Landscape series (1939-52), among others. ! The Future of Music: Credo (1937): use of electronics anticipated ! Form treated as an open, pre-formed “container”: sounds related only in time, materials carefully chosen, relationships arbitrary. ! Introduces “prepared piano” with Bacchanale (1940) ! Study of Zen Buddhism leads to introduction of indeterminacy and chance operations: I Ching, dice, coins, Chinese sticks,and imperfections in paper used to determine musical parameters. ! Explores boundaries between sound and silence, culminating in 4!33” (1952). ! After 1952, explores various applications of indeterminacy. I Ching Hexagrams, ordered as they appear in the Yi, arranged by King Wan.˘ Yin - Yang Moon Sun Dark Light Female Male John Cage: Music of Changes (1951) Prefatory Note John Cage: Music of Changes (1951)—IV John Cage: Music of Changes (1951)—IV John Cage: Music of Changes (1951)—IV John Cage: 4!33” (1952) John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58) John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58) John Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58) The New York School L-R: Christian Wolff, Earle Brown, John Cage, Morton Feldman. Photographed in New York, 1962 (archives of Earle Brown). Jackson Pollock: Lavender Mist (1950) Earle Brown: December 1952 (1952) Earle Brown: Available Forms I (1961) open form: pre-composed elements (of varying degrees of specificity) are freely arranged by the performer(s); also known as variable or mobile form. Alexander Calder: Lobster and Fish (1930) Mark Rothko: Red, Brown, Black (1958) Morton Feldman (1926-1987) Franz Kline: Nijinsky (Petruchka) (1949) Franz Kline: Nijinsky (Petruchka) (1950) Morton Feldman: For Franz Kline (1962) Morton Feldman: For Franz Kline (1962) Morton Feldman: King of Denmark (1964) Christian Wolff: For 1, 2, or 3 People (1964) Applications of Indeterminacy Earle Brown: John Cage: Available Forms (1961) Music of Changes (1951) Karlheinz Stockhausen: Mauricio Kagel: 1898 (1973) Klavierstücke XI (1956); Zyklus (1959) Larry Austin: Canadian Morton Feldman: Coastlines (1981) For Franz Kline (1962) Christian Wolff: Composer IndeterminacyFor 1, 2, or 3 People (1964) John Cage: Variations I (1958); Fontana Mix (1958); Concert for Piano & Orchestra (1957-58) Earle Brown: Folio (1952) Performer Indeterminacy Influences of John Cage on the European Avant-Garde: ! John Cage lecture at Darmstadt (1958). ! Chance operations seen as an alternative to serialism, breaking up the homogeneity and statistical uniformity inherent to this approach. ! Like serial procedures, indeterminacy is considered a way to remove the composer!s ego from the work. ! European avant-garde composers adapted chance to fit into serial structures: e.g., Boulez Pli Selon Pli, Stockhausen Klavierstücke XI, Lutoslawski Jeux venétiens. ! Europeans adopted the term “aleatory” (from alea=“dice”) to distinguish their use of indeterminacy from that of Cage. ! Karlheinz Stockhausen: “moment” form ! Witold Lutoslawski: “controlled aleatory” Henri Pousseur Bruno Henk Maderna Pierre Badings Schaeffer Mauricio Luciano Kagel Berio Earle Brown Karlheinz Stockhausen John Cage Composers at Brussels World Fair (1958) John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen (1958) Karlheinz Stockhausen: Zyklus (1959) Performance Notes Karlheinz Stockhausen: Zyklus (1959) Karlheinz Stockhausen: Zyklus (1959) Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) Witold Lutoslawski: Jeux vénetiens (1961) Witold Lutoslawski: Jeux vénetiens (1961).