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Work Title
Sonatas and Interludes
Date
Composed between 1946 and 1948. Premiered in Black Mountain, N.C., April 6, 1948.
Ensemble Type
Solo
Work Length
70 minutes
Instrumentation
For solo prepared piano.
Comments
The Sonatas and Interludes are Cage's prepared piano masterwork. Much has been written about it, and in just about any article or book about the composer. The list of available CD recordings amounts to 14 at the time of this writing (December 2000). In this composition, Cage expresses his interpretation of the permanent emotions of Indian tradition: the Heroic, the Erotic, the Wondrous, the Comic (the four light moods), Sorrow, Fear, Anger, the Odious (the four dark moods), and their common tendency toward (central) Tranquility. This was Cage's first composition using Hindu philosophy as a basis, and he composed the Sonatas and Interludes in a period of time during which he was reading extensively the works of the Indian art historian and critic Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Sonatas I through VIII and XII through XVI are written in AABB rhythmic structure, using varying proportions. The first two interludes have no structural repetitions, while the last two interludes as well as Sonatas IX, X and XI have prelude, interlude, and postlude. In his book The Music of John Cage, James Pritchett gives a very thorough structural analysis. The order of the Sonatas and Interludes is as follows: Sonatas I-IV; First Interlude; Sonatas V-VIII; Second Interlude; Third Interlude; Sonatas IX-XII, Fourth Interlude; Sonatas XIII-XVI. Sonatas XIV and XV are paired together under the name "Gemini - after the work of Richard Lippold" (an American sculptor). The preparation of the piano is quite elaborate and takes between 2 to 3 hours to complete. A total of 45 notes are prepared, mainly with screws and bolts, but also 15 pieces of rubber, 4 pieces of plastic, 6 nuts, and one eraser. In more recent years there has been a tendency to perform this work on a smaller piano, instead of a concert grand. The rationale for this may be justified, in the sense that Cage probably wrote the work on his own, smaller piano.
Dedicatee(s)
Maro Ajemian
Publication
Peters Edition EP 6755
Recordings (click for details)
Écoutez!
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
Sonatas and Interludes
Scarlatti / Cage Sonatas
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes / In a Landscape
Gamelan Cage: John Cage's Prepared Piano Pieces on Balinese Gamelan
John Cage - Complete Piano Music Vol. 1-10
John Cage Sonatas & Interludes
John Cage Sonatas & Interludes
John Cage: Journeys in Sound
John Cage 100 Special Edition (Anniversary Box)
John Cage, Nurit Tilles ‎– Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano (1946-48)
John CAGE - 100th Anniversary
Preparado em Curitiba
Cage & Nancarrow: Sonatas and Interludes For Prepared Piano Canons and Studies
John Cage - Hans Otte - Orient-Occident
Sonatas and Other Interludes
Andrew Hargreaves
The Piano: The ultimate piano collection of the century
Fantaisie_fantasme David Greilsammer
John Cage: The Works for Piano 7 Chess Pieces - Sonatas and Interludes - Chess Serenade
John Cage Complete Music for Prepared Piano
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano
Cage - Sonatas & Interludes for prepared piano
London Sinfonietta Warp Works and Twentieth Century Masters
Discover Music of the Twentieth Century
John Cage - Nora Skuta Sonatas & Interludes
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
Quadromania - Music of the 20th century "Avantgarde"
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano
L'Hexacorde
John Cage / Herbert Henck Locations
Musicworks 86
Joshua Pierce "Live" at the DOM / Alternativa Festival Moscow, Russia, April 22, 2000
John Cage - Sonatas & Interludes
Fifty Years of Hungaroton: Pianists
Zeitenwechsel 1. 35 Jahre Berliner Künstlerprogramm John Cage
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes / A Book of Music
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes / A Book of Music
PLAY
The Liberty Trail
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
Giancarlo Cardini - John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
1999 New Releases Highlights
20/20: 20 new sounds of the 20th Century
Januskopf Bach - Cage
John Cage Sonatas and Interludes
Perilous Night - John Cage
'One of a Kind', Music for Nederlands Dans Theater
Outside in Pianist February - October 1998
Orbitones, Spoon Harps & Bellowphones
Musik für Schlagzeug und Klavier
John Cage - Complete Piano Music Vol. 1 The Prepared Piano 1940-1952
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
Yuji Takahashi plays John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
Piano Music by John Cage
The Piano Works 2
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
Phases for the Future
Sound Forms for Piano
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
Works for prepared piano / Cage
Intermusica
6. Dresdner Tage der Zeitgenössischen Musik '92: 1.-11. Oktober 1992
The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage
PIANO ARTissimo 20th Century Piano Works
Between the Keys - Microtonal Masterpieces of the 20th Century
In honor of Betty Freeman: Music of Thomson and Cage
John Cage - Sonata XIII - Music for Marcel Duchamp - Song Books I-II - Empty Words III
Jane Solose, piano
Live bei DACAPO im Bürgerhaus Weserterrassen
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage Darryl Rosenberg, pianist Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano (1946-1948)
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
Contemporary Piano Music
Contemporary Piano Music
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage - Nada Kolundzija
Sonates et interludes pour piano préparé.
Title unknown
Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano (1946-48) - A Book of Music for two prepared pianos (1944)
John Cage - Sonata XIII - Music for Marcel Duchamp - Song Books I-II - Empty Words III
Sound Forms for Piano
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes
Mr. John Cage's Prepared Piano - John Tilbury, prepared piano
Cage: Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano
International Gaudeamus Competition 1971 for interpreters of contemporary music
Yuji Takahashi plays John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes Volume 1
Yuji Takahashi plays John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes Volume 2
Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-48)
25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage
Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano - John Cage
Sonatas & Interludes
JOHN CAGE A tribute
John Cage / Sonatas and Interludes
Sonates et interludes pour piano préparé.
[ONCE Festival recording, 1962 and 1965] New Music: Use of the contemporary piano
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JOHN CAGE Sonatas and Interludes
John Cage: Silence Happening
John Cage: 3 CD Collection / 3 Original Albums
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