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John Cage

American composer, philosopher, writer and printmaker. He was educated in California and then made a study tour of Europe (1930-31), concentrating on art, architecture and music. On his return to the USA he studied music with Richard Buhlig, Adolph Weiss, Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg; in 1934 he abandoned abstract painting for music. An interest in extending the existing range of percussion instruments led him, in 1940, to devise the 'prepared piano' (in which the sound is transformed by the insertion of various objects between the strings) and to pioneer electronic sound sources.

American composer, philosopher, writer and printmaker. He was educated in California and then made a study tour of Europe (1930-31), concentrating on art, architecture and music. On his return to the USA he studied music with Richard Buhlig, Adolph Weiss, Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg; in 1934 he abandoned abstract painting for music. An interest in extending the existing range of percussion instruments led him, in 1940, to devise the 'prepared piano' (in which the sound is transformed by the insertion of various objects between the strings) and to pioneer electronic sound sources.

The Number Pieces 5 - Two2
Laurel Karlik Sheehan gave the Canadian premiere of Two2 with Jack Behrens in 1990. Rob Haskins is a respected John Cage expert and scholar. Together they bring an authority and expertise to this performance of Two2.  In most of the Number Pieces, all the performers have some freedom through Cage’s use of time brackets, flexible measures that show a range of possible starting and ending times. The time bracket system of notation used in these works allows a certain amount of flexibility in the p…
Number Pieces 4
The first recording of John Cage’s large scale composition for 3 recorder players.  The Trio Dolce wrote Cage for permission to perform Solo with Obbligato Accompaniment on three alto recorders, one octave higher than the prescribed range. In a letter from March 1987 Cage replied: “Of course you may use the 3 alto recorders. I am glad that you are playing that piece.” They performed it on July 1988 with Cage in attendance.  Cage’s enthusiastic reaction to this performance encouraged Trio Dolce t…
An Anthology
* Artist's book, letterpress and offset printed. Original copies of this seminal fluxus book, in perfect condition after over 50 years * Edited by La Monte Young in 1961, designed by George Maciunas, and published in 1963, An Anthology contains contributions by more than a dozen artists, many of whom would become associated with Fluxus. An early manifestation of the genre of artists’ books —books in which the content is the artwork— An Anthology contains a diverse array of contributions, includi…
Aus Aller Welt Stammende / Transfiguration Of The Moon / Hymnkus
** 2021 Stock ** CP² Recordings presents Zygmunt Krauze: Aus Aller Welt Stammende, Toshi Ichiyanagi: Transfiguration Of The Moon, John Cage: (1912 - 1992) Hymnkus (version for violin). The Krauze was recorded at Hip Pocket Studios, N.Y.C., on Dec. 10 1993. It was mixed in 2005 at SoundByte Productions, Inc., N.Y.C. Produced & Engineered by Paul Zinman. Assistant Engineer: Gerry Volkerz. The Ichiyanagi was recorded at Master Sound, Astoria, N.Y.C., on Feb. 26, 1995. Produced & Engineered by Paul …
16 Dances / Sonata No​.​2 for Violin and Piano
** 2021 Stock ** CP² Recordings presents John Cage: 16 Dances; Armin Loos: Sonata No​.​2 for Violin and Piano. Performed by New Music Concerts, Paul Zukofsky, Conductor; Paul Zukofsky, Violin, Michael Torre, Piano. This recording was originally released as an LP (CP2/15) and was a co-production with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation / Sociètè Radio-Canada and New Music Concerts, Toronto. The original release was supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. The g…
Chorals / Cheap Imitation / Freeman Etudes I​-​VIII
** 2021 Stock ** CP² Recordings presents John Cage: Chorals / Cheap Imitation / Freeman Etudes I​-​VIII performed by Paul Zukofsky, violin. The original recording of the Freeman Etudes was supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. The generous support of Betty Freeman is gratefully acknowledged. Recording Engineer (Chorals and Cheap Imitation): Paul Goodman. Recording Engineer (Freeman Etudes): Robert C. Ludwig. Editor: Joanna Nickrenz (Elite Recordings, Inc.…
Every Mushroom Is a Good Mushroom
Every Mushroom Is a Good Mushroom includes recipes by John Cage alongside original artworks and texts from Cage and mushroom enthusiasts Isabelle Bucklow, Francesca Gavin, Jason Fulford, Polly Geller, Erik Kessels, Phyllis Ma, Katty Maurey, Michael Pollan, Thomas Sauvin (Beijing Silvermine), David Shrigley, Mike Slack, Alec Soth, Sissel Tolaas, Ester Vonplon, and Lars Wannop
Radio Happenings
** 224-page hardcover book  with audio DVD of the complete 5-hours of audio from the radio broadcasts** In 1966-67, radio station WBAI in New York City invited composers John Cage and Morton Feldman to make 5 one-hour radio conversations. Unscripted and improvised, they were free to talk about whatever they wished. The fascinating conversations cover music, politics, sociology, current events, the arts and more.These Radio Happenings are legend to fans of these composers, as well as a unique mom…
Diary: How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)
"Over 16 years, beginning in 1965, John Cage compiled anecdotes, observations and koanlike tales, originally typing everything on an IBM Selectric and using chance methods to determine the formatting of texts that twist down each page. The Siglio edition preserves the graphic effects, but, more important, it gives a sense of the company he kept during these years—Marcel Duchamp, R. Buckminster Fuller, D.T. Suzuki—and of his passionate feeling about a world locked in a state of perpetual warfare.…
Desert Plants
**Essential reading!** Walter Zimmermann interviews Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, John Cage, Philip Corner, Jim Burton, Phil Glass, Steve Reich, Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier, Joan La Barbara, Pauline Oliveros, David Rosenboom, Richard Teitelbaum, Larry Austin, James Tenney, J. B. Floyd (about Conlon Nancarrow), La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine, Charles Morrow, Garrett List, John Mc Guire and Ben Johnston (about Harry Partch).
The Works for Piano 10
"The Solo for Piano is part of the legendary Concert for Piano and Orchestra. It is an indeterminate work, consisting of 63 pages made of 84 different types of composition, each appearing as its own type of notation. The performer creates his own performance by choosing which pages to play and in which order; pages can also be omitted. John Cage began by choosing, using chance operations, a way of composing based on either his Music for Piano series – single notes, or on Winter Music – chords, o…
Solo for voice 58 : 18 microtonal ragas
**2021 stock** The world premiere recording of Solo for Voice 58 by legendary American avant-garde composer John Cage. Italian-German dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni is the ideal interpreter, trained in classical Indian singing but also able to improvise on ragas in a new music context. Cuni developed from Cage’s score of eighteen raga scales a remarkable and unique interpretation that belongs to both the classical Indian and Western experimental traditions. Includes an extensive booklet with essays …
John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Film
* Restocked, reduced price * The never-before-seen in its entirety, visual documentation proving this avant-garde collaboration of mythic proportions did indeed occur. Recorded at Sideshows by the Seashore along the Coney Island boardwalk on June 8th, 1986 as documented on VHS by John Polizzi under the commission of event producers Rick Russo and Bronwyn Rucker. It was long believed that John Cage and Sun Ra never performed together but as you'll see,these two shared the stage the entire time. T…
The 25-Year Retrospective Concert Of The Music Of John Cage (2Lp
Recorded live at Town Hall, NYC in May of 1958, this historic concert (organized by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg) was a retrospective of Cage’s work from 1934 to the present. The set documents the concert held in the town hall of New York City on May 15, 1958, where 25 years' worth of John Cage's compositions were performed, the largest such event at that point in his career. Presented chronologically, the works increasingly tested the patience of the audience, eventually prompting audib…
John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Concert
If you were going to envision the ultimate avant-garde meeting-of-the-minds jam session, who would you pick? Even the most hopeful fan of strange and innovative music couldn't have seen this one coming: on one afternoon in 1986, at Coney Island's dilapidated freak show, space-age avant-jazz genius Sun Ra met avant-garde "serious music" composer John Cage in an unforgettable performance. You couldn't imagine two figures more opposite. Cage was known for his unusual approach to composition, using …
Two2 (2CD)
Landmark recording of John Cage's late work for two pianos, played by Mark Knoop and Philip Thomas. Uniquely for Cage's number pieces, Two2 doesn't use time brackets, so duration is open and left to the musicians' 'inner clock'. Previous recordings have lasted between 35 and 74 minutes, but this new version stretches across two CDs and lasts 128 minutes, revealing new depths and sonorities in the music. "A major achievement.”Brian Olewnick, Just Outside
A Cage of saxophones 1
Between 1983 and 1991 John cage wrote three pieces specifically for saxophones, Four5, Five4 and Hymnkus, which are combined here for the first time on CD. In addition, Cage authorized Ulrich Krieger's arrangement for saxophone of Ryoanji. Krieger also made a saxophone arrangement of Five, one of the few compositions from this period performable on any instruments. This unique disc concentrates on Cage's late works for saxophone. A CAGE OF SAXOPHONES VOL.2 (mode 160), features a combination of…
The Number Pieces 2: Five³
During the last few years of his life, John Cage wrote many pieces in the same general vein as Five3. They are often referred to as "the number pieces." This references the titles of the pieces, which are all simply the number of the performers. Superscripts are added as necessary to distinguish the individual pieces (this is the third quintet, for example). These works are also called "the time-bracket pieces," a reference to the notation of the pieces. Each event in the piece consists of…
Cage Edition Vol.52 : The Works for Percussion 4
**CD Edition** A Flower; The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs; 51’15.657” for a speaking percussionist (realization Whiting); Music for Two (By One) (realization Whiting) — Bonnie Whiting, voice & percussion + Allen OTTE/John CAGE: Connecting Egypt to Madison through Columbus Ohio, Cage, and the History of the American Labor Movement (realization Otte) — Allen Otte, voice, prepared piano, percussion.
Klang Der Wandlungen
From the liner notes by Jakob Ullmann (translated by Peter Gebert and Molly McDolan): "It was during a break in the inaugural meeting of the East German section of the IGNM (International Society for Contemporary Music) in March of 1990 when Reinhard Oehlschlägel, the long-standing music editor of Deutschlandfunk in Cologne, suggested taking advantage of the fact that John Cage was to attend the summer courses in Darmstadt as a special guest by inviting John Cage to East Berlin. . . . Making Gia…
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