John Cage

This CD is the first audio document of the collaboration between John Cage and Merce Cunningham, in expert performances by the core group of musicians of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from the late 1980s. Two works have been chosen from different periods of their collaboration. In the infamous Cartridge Music, the performers make use of phonograph cartridges to play various objects, toys and furniture to create a cosmos of unusual sounds.

The 53 minute long Five Stone Wind is percussive in nature. The basic sounds from David Tudor are derived from recordings of earth vibrations which trigger the electronics and treatments. The unique percussion sound is created from hand-made clay pots modeled after African “Udu” drums, which can make sounds from room-shaking bass to high pitched ceramic slaps. Live percussion is added to eight pre-recorded drum tracks, yielding an exotic and other-worldly atmosphere punctuated by solos from Takehisa Kosugi.

Originally issued in 1991 and out of stock for a few years, this long awaited reissue has been remastered from the original session tapes in hi-resolution 96khz/24-bit. The result is a more detailed and tactile recording with greater dynamic range. The booklet is presented in a new layout with rescanned photos and new French and German translations of the original texts written by Cage, Tudor, Kosugi, Pugliese and the MCDC’s David Vaughan.

Five Stone Wind (1988) 53:02, first recording, for the Merce Cunningham dance 5 Stone Wind
Cartridge Music (1960) 18:53, first recording on CD, realization by David Tudor, for the Merce Cunningham dance Changing Steps

Takehisa Kosugi, amplified violin, live electronics, bamboo flute
Michael Pugliese, 9 clay pots and tapes
David Tudor, live electronics
In Cartridge Music, Kosugi, Pugliese and Tudor play phonograph cartridges and amplified small objects