John Cage recordings

[yonhosago]

Three versions of Cage's Radio Music, a duo, a quintet and a solo, played in a private concert here in Santiago on friday 21st of May, offered by ala1RECS & arsomnis plus guests.

The concert included also Casey Thomas Anderson Valley, Michael Pisaro's 7 for two musicians with radios (from The Collection), and version of Cage's Variations III & IV. Soon we'll add a interactive audio & video recording of the Variations set.

Meanwhile, you can play & listen to Radio Music, Valley & 7 at http://www.arsomnis.com/artesmusicales/radio-music/

[fof]

Regarding John Cage output, Ràdio Web MACBA http://rwm.macba.cat/en/specials produced a very interesting show curated by Joe Gilmore and Rhiannon Silver which explored the Fluxus movement. MP3 file free to download: http://bit.ly/cLnwxk

"FluxRadio" explores some of the concepts and ideas behind the music and performance pratice of Fluxus. Featuring sound pieces by George Maciunas, La Monte Young, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, George Brecht, Yoko Ono and others, the programme charts the emergence of Fluxus through 60s avant-garde New York, examining the relationship to John Cage, Zen Buddhism and European avant-garde music.http://bit.ly/cLnwxk

They also produced a show on the relationship between Cage and the radio, but it is only available in Spanish:
http://rwm.macba.cat/uploads/cage/relectura_cage.mp3

[drip]

since this thread is up again.

i'm absolutely not familiar with cage's output, but i grabbed long time ago the compilation from the fantastic avant garde project, on which they devoted themselve to john cage (agp18).
i must say that i loved it, especially variations II.
i know there is a record called "variations I-III" on mode. is it anywhere similar to the agp files? don't know, from where they got it...

[bedouin]

Regarding John Cage output, Ràdio Web MACBA http://rwm.macba.cat/en/specials produced a very interesting show curated by Joe Gilmore and Rhiannon Silver which explored the Fluxus movement. MP3 file free to download: http://bit.ly/cLnwxk

"FluxRadio" explores some of the concepts and ideas behind the music and performance pratice of Fluxus. Featuring sound pieces by George Maciunas, La Monte Young, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, George Brecht, Yoko Ono and others, the programme charts the emergence of Fluxus through 60s avant-garde New York, examining the relationship to John Cage, Zen Buddhism and European avant-garde music.http://bit.ly/cLnwxk

They also produced a show on the relationship between Cage and the radio, but it is only available in Spanish:
http://rwm.macba.cat/uploads/cage/relectura_cage.mp3

thanks for these.
the 2nd broadcast references a significant (for me at least) short clip of Cage talking about sound versus music, which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y

[simon reynell]

i'm absolutely not familiar with cage's output, but i grabbed long time ago the compilation from the fantastic avant garde project, on which they devoted themselve to john cage (agp18).
i must say that i loved it, especially variations II.
i know there is a record called "variations I-III" on mode. is it anywhere similar to the agp files? don't know, from where they got it...

The Mode disc (Variations i - iii, by the Motion Ensemble from Canada, mode 129) is nothing at all like David Tudor's realisation of Variations II. I like a lot of the Mode Cage releases, but this one was a bit disappointing for me. I and II are realisations for conventional instruments and sound ok, but without being thrilling. And on Variations II the performance is played simultaneously with a reading of Cage's Lecture on Nothing, which doesn't work for me. Variations III is realised for three musicians playing electronics, and is also pleasant enough but has little of the unflinching radicalism of Tudor's realisation from 40 years previously.

The realisations of Variations I on the Hat Art New York School disc (by Eberhard Blum) and on the 'John Cage a Firenze' disc on Sonora (by Roberto Fabbriciani) are both stronger IMO, but are also totally unlike the Tudor. The scores for all the Variations pieces are so open that performances are almost bound to be very different from each other.

[drip]

i'm absolutely not familiar with cage's output, but i grabbed long time ago the compilation from the fantastic avant garde project, on which they devoted themselve to john cage (agp18).
i must say that i loved it, especially variations II.
i know there is a record called "variations I-III" on mode. is it anywhere similar to the agp files? don't know, from where they got it...

The Mode disc (Variations i - iii, by the Motion Ensemble from Canada, mode 129) is nothing at all like David Tudor's realisation of Variations II. I like a lot of the Mode Cage releases, but this one was a bit disappointing for me. I and II are realisations for conventional instruments and sound ok, but without being thrilling. And on Variations II the performance is played simultaneously with a reading of Cage's Lecture on Nothing, which doesn't work for me. Variations III is realised for three musicians playing electronics, and is also pleasant enough but has little of the unflinching radicalism of Tudor's realisation from 40 years previously.

The realisations of Variations I on the Hat Art New York School disc (by Eberhard Blum) and on the 'John Cage a Firenze' disc on Sonora (by Roberto Fabbriciani) are both stronger IMO, but are also totally unlike the Tudor. The scores for all the Variations pieces are so open that performances are almost bound to be very different from each other.

thanks a lot for the information.
so i think the david tudor album on edition rz is more likely the record i should get...

[simon reynell]

yup.

quite apart from the realisation of Variations II, most of the other performances on the Edition RZ Tudor double cd are excellent too, though they've received much less attention hereabouts (perhaps because they don't involve electronics....?)

[drip]

yup.

quite apart from the realisation of Variations II, most of the other performances on the Edition RZ Tudor double cd are excellent too, though they've received much less attention hereabouts (perhaps because they don't involve electronics....?)

hmm...i'm not sure, if you're right. i remember that it generally received positive (if not enthusiastic) response here. but i can't say that it was focused on certain aspect of the cds rather than the overall range presented on it.
it has been sitting a long time on my "to get list", because of the price, but i think, i'll take my chance now.

[jkudler]

not really sure where else to put this, but FYI there's a piece on cage by alex ross in the newest new yorker. unfortunately, it's not free online.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010 ... _fact_ross

-jesse

[yonhosago]

News from the third to fourth world.

Various versions of Cage's Cartridge music, Sculptures musicales, Rocks and a combined version of Variations I, II & IV, set uo and played by ala1RECS-arsomnis plus some guests. All the works were played at Relevo, a collective exhibition of "work process" of various artists, last september 7th to 11th, in Santiago, Chile.

You can click on the link to stream or download at archive.org

http://www.arsomnis.com/artesmusicales/ ... john-cage/

[Notice Recordings]

I recently heard "Six Melodies" from the Mode CD "The Works for Violin 4" (on the DRAM site at a university -- unfortunately I can't find a copy of this amazing release), and I was really enamoured with the complex melodic structure of the pieces, and moreover the conflicting themes that keep it so intriguing. It's something rare with Cage ; these pieces could be considered very intellectual, I suppose, but are also extremely accessible and nearly pastoral (appropriate for the coming winter months, I feel). They were written in 1950, right near the time he also composed "Dream" and "In a Landscape", both of which are also very tonal, strong melodically and nearly romantic. (I think "Six Melodies" is tonal -- I'm not "properly" studied in music terminology.)

Can anyone group any other compositions with these 3 regarding some of the characteristics I've mentioned ? I'd love to hear more in this style -- it's amazing when he composes in a more conventional way, because they remain fascinating in an "academic" sense, but also extremely human and unimposing. Very well done.

[barry]

i just ordered a copy of 'Works for violin 4' direct from mode. they got some stock back from a few european sellers (or something like that) so you might want to give brian a shout and see if he has any left.

[926am]

Any opinions on the David Tudor Piano 2cd on Edition RZ? Not strictly Cage, but most of the space on the discs is devoted to him.

http://www.discogs.com/David-Tudor-Musi ... ase/943768

[barry]

thats a classic. some of the best recordings of the pieces on there. tudor was amazing.

[Notice Recordings]

i just ordered a copy of 'Works for violin 4' direct from mode. they got some stock back from a few european sellers (or something like that) so you might want to give brian a shout and see if he has any left.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

[mshiflet]

thats a classic. some of the best recordings of the pieces on there. tudor was amazing.

ditto. seconded. the motion is approved.

[jon abbey]

yeah, that's fantastic and pretty essential. probably my favorite RZ release, and they're one of the best labels around.

[926am]

i just ordered a copy of 'Works for violin 4' direct from mode. they got some stock back from a few european sellers (or something like that) so you might want to give brian a shout and see if he has any left.

Just got my copy.

[cdeupree]

Any opinions on the David Tudor Piano 2cd on Edition RZ?

I posted an article about this release a while back. Seminal recordings from an interesting moment in piano composition.

[J.F.]

I recently heard "Six Melodies" from the Mode CD "The Works for Violin 4" (on the DRAM site at a university -- unfortunately I can't find a copy of this amazing release), and I was really enamoured with the complex melodic structure of the pieces, and moreover the conflicting themes that keep it so intriguing. It's something rare with Cage ; these pieces could be considered very intellectual, I suppose, but are also extremely accessible and nearly pastoral (appropriate for the coming winter months, I feel). They were written in 1950, right near the time he also composed "Dream" and "In a Landscape", both of which are also very tonal, strong melodically and nearly romantic. (I think "Six Melodies" is tonal -- I'm not "properly" studied in music terminology.)

Can anyone group any other compositions with these 3 regarding some of the characteristics I've mentioned ? I'd love to hear more in this style -- it's amazing when he composes in a more conventional way, because they remain fascinating in an "academic" sense, but also extremely human and unimposing. Very well done.

Cage's "String Quartet" from 1949/50 always sounded like a good companion to "Six Melodies" to me. If I remember right, both pieces are, in certain spots, pretty close to each other in regards of melodic material.