John Cage

One of two evenings of early works by Cage mark a return of the music of Cage, once a guest in the Schindler House, to the grounds of the House and include a little known work, Composition for Three Voices, dedicated to Schindler’s wife, Pauline. Selected by James Tenney, the works performed mark the coincidence of several Cage anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of the seminal work 4′ 33″ performed in 1952, the 90th anniversary of Cage’s birth, and the 10th anniversary of his death.

Saturday, June 29, 2002 7p Doors
MAK Center for Art and Architecture Schindler House 835 N Kings Rd West Hollywood, CA 90069

Details

Cohen and Forti performing "Roof of an Unfocus" at CalArts in April, 2002

Cohen and Forti performing “Roof of an Unfocus” at CalArts in April, 2002

Including “Composition for Three Voices” (dedicated to Pauline Schindler); “Nocturne for Violin and Piano”, with Mark Menzies, violin, and James Tenney, piano; “String Quartet in Four Parts” played by CalArts faculty and students; “Credo in US” ; and “In a Landscape” and “Dream” with dancer/choreographers Deborah Cohen and Simone Forti

“The subject of the String Quartet in Four Parts (1949-50) is the seasons [summer, fall, winter, spring]” Nocturne for violin and piano (1947) was an attempt by Cage to “dissolve the difference between string and piano sounds.” Credo in US (1942), written for Merce Cunningham, is one of the first works to utilize the phonograph as an instrument in live performance. In fact, much of Cage’s early music was written for dance, and Saturday night’s program reunites Tenney with fellow Judson Dance Theater alumna Simone Forti in Dream (1948). In addition, In A Landscape (1948) will also be heard in the version for harp, with dancer/choregrapher Deborah Cohen. The score of Composition for Three Voices (1934) was dedicated to Pauline Schindler and dates from the period that Cage resided at the Schindler House.

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