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John Cage. Two for two pianos. Experiences for two pianos. Three Dances for two prepared pianos. Double Edge (Edmund Niemann and Nurit Titles, duo-pianists). Liner notes by James Pritchett. 1997. Composers Recordings, Inc. CRI CD 732.
John Cage. Sonatas and Interludes. Aleck Karis, prepared piano. Free bonus disc-John Cage reads his lecture, "Composition in Retrospect." Liner notes by Aleck Karis. 1998. Bridge 9081 A/ B.
John Cage: Litany for the Whale. John Cage. Litany for the Whale. Aria No. 2. Five. The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs. Solo for Voice 22 from Songbooks. Experiences No. 2. 36 Mesostics re and not re Marcel Duchamp. Aria. The Year Begins to be Ripe. Theatre of Voices (Alan Bennett [also closed piano], Paul Elliott, Andrea Fullington, Paul Hillier, Shabda Owens [also electronics], Allison Zelles) with Terry Riley, tenor. Paul Hillier, artistic director. Liner notes by Paul Hillier. 1998. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907187.
In the 1958 recording of John Cage's 25-Year Retrospective Concert (Wergo CD 286 247-2), one of the most informative and infamous moments is that in which, in the course of the Concert for Piano and Orchestra, one of the low brass performs the signature D-flat, B-flat, E-flat, B-flat ostinato from "Danses des Adolescentes." Granted, Cage's notation for this work is predominantly graphic, allowing each performer multitudinous possibilities by which to render an "accurate" realization of his or her individual part. Nonetheless, this particular horn player's calculated Stravinskian gesture inarguably stands outside of this realm of legitimate options and therefore may be categorized quite justifiably as inappropriate and even outright disruptive in relation to the otherwise acceptable nest of cacophonies in which it occurred.
Unfortunately, this was not the only time that Cage would be thwarted by performers, and there are more than a few stories of his own indignant reactions to irresponsible performances of his works: "I must find a way to let people be free without their becoming foolish," he once vowed ("Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music," New York: Folkways Records FT 3704, 1959). In the 1960s, when Cage finally acquired publishers both for his music and prose, enjoying a surge of interest in his work among a new generation of creative artists, this newfound popularity nonetheless yielded equivocal consequences,...