Joan La Barbara, John Heitmann, Delores Stevens

The sound of prepared piano has often been compared to the sound of instruments in the Indonesian gamelan orchestras. One can also hear sounds reminiscent of African log drumming, Indian tablas, Jamaican steel pans, and even foreshadowings of some of Harry Partch's creations. Those familiar with Cage's heavily aleatoric works, may find the prepared piano pieces puzzling at first. Most of them were written during the 1940s and early 1950s, before Cage's heavy commitment to indeterminacy. Consequently, they are more deliberately and highly structured than most of his work after about 1954. There is also considerable repetition, given that many of these pieces were conceived as supporting music for choreographic creations by Merce Cunningham's dance company. Rhythm and form are more important here, than in most of Cage's later works.
Richard Bunger, prepared piano (using the same preparations Jeanne Kirstein did on the Columbia recordings) performing works of Cage, Harrison and Pellman. Including a prepared piano and tape recorder piece by the same Richard Bunger  as well as experimental vocalizations by Joan La Barbara.