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Work Title
Concert for Piano and Orchestra
Date
Composed between 1957 and 1958. Premiered in New York, May 15, 1958.
Ensemble Type
Orchestra
Work Length
Indeterminate
Instrumentation
For any solo or combination of piano, flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 3 violins, 2 violas, cello,and double bass, with optional conductor. Parts also available on rental. See also Aria (EP 6701), Solo for Voice 1 (EP 6750) and 2 (EP 6751), Fontana Mix (EP 6712), and WBAI (EP 6772).
Comments
This work comprises 63 pages to be played, in whole or in part, in any sequence, involving 84 'types' of composition. To be performed, in whole or in part, in any duration, with any number of the above performers, as a solo, chamber ensemble, symphony, concert for piano and orchestra, aria, etc. Publication numbers listed above are, in sequence, for solo piano, individual parts, and conductor (optional). This work was used as music for the choreographed piece by Merce Cunningham entitled Antic Meet, with stage decors and costume design by Robert Rauschenberg. Concert for Piano and Orchestra has no score, but rather consists of highly detailed parts. Any performance may include all of the instruments, but the work may also be performed as a solo, duet, trio, etc. Should this occur, the title should be changed to reflect the chosen instrumentation, i.e. Solo for Piano. The notation of each part uses a system wherein space is relative to time. The amount of time is determined by the musician and then altered during performance, by the conductor, whose role is to act as a chronometer on the podium whose arms simulate the movement of the hands of a clock. Notes are of 3 sizes, and may refer to duration or amplitude or both, interpreted by the performer. This work is a tour de force compilation of then contemporary compositional practices, with each of its solos involving as many playing techniques as possible. The part for pianist, for example, is an aggregate of 84 different kinds of notation, written on 63 pages, and composed using 84 different compositional techniques. The pianist may play the material in whole or in part, choosing any notations, elements, or parts, and playing them in any order. Cage’s composing means involved chance operations, as well as the use of the imperfections found in the paper upon which the music was written. This work may be performed alone, or in combination with Solo for Voice 1, Solo for Voice 2, Fontana Mix, Aria, Indeterminacy, Song Books, and/or other related indeterminate pieces such as Variations I and II.
Dedicatee(s)
Elaine de Kooning
Publication
Peters Edition EP 6705, EP 6705a-m, EP 6705n
Recordings (click for details)
John Cage: The Works for Piano 10
John Cage / Christian Wolff
Music from the TUDORFEST: San Francisco Tape Music Center 1964 (John Cage, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Pauline Oliveros)
John Cage 100 Special Edition (Anniversary Box)
Ostravská Banda On Tour
John Cage im Loft
John Cage Dream
Christian Lindberg - The Total Musician
John Cage
John Cage Solo for Cello
John Cage: The Works of Saxophone 2, The Complete John Cage Edition, Volume 35
Orchestral Space '68
Cleveland Chamber Symphony Vols. 1, 2, & 3
John Cage #4
David Tudor plays Cage & Tudor
Rumori alla Rotonda
John Cage - THE PIANO CONCERTOS
[ONCE Festival recording, 1963] [sound recording] : Cage-Tudor panel ; [ONCE Festival concert, 8 December 1963] : Once a month with ONCE friends.
John Cage - Sylvano Bussotti
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, No. 5 John Cage Concert for Piano & Orchestra Diary / Gespräch
John Cage - Concert for Piano and Orchestra / Atlas Eclipticalis
A Chance Operation - The John Cage Tribute
John Cage a Firenze
John Cage: Early Piano Works
David Tudor plays Cage & Tudor
The Barton Workshop plays John Cage
The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage
The New York School
Cage / Tudor - Indeterminacy
JOHN CAGE Works for Cello - Lecture on Nothing
Joel Stopka, trombone
Wirrnis der Klänge - Wirrnis der Seele Cage, Schumann
The Solitary Trombone
Mats Persson, piano
Music Before Revolution
Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music
25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage
Concerto for piano and orchestra
Music Before Revolution Vol.1 John Cage
Christian Lindberg, Trombone
John Cage
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