Every new discovery in John Cage's repertoire is a revelation. Thanks to @ALFAMA for introducing me to this magnificent work.
#buzz
John Cage - Bird Cage (Not On Label, 1972)
Honestly, I don't know if this work has ever been published and in what format. As far as I know, it has been reinterpreted by various composers and musicians over the years, leading to different versions (notably that of William Blakeney) of what can be defined as one of the many experimental masterpieces of the great John Cage. Essentially, "Bird Cage" was a true sound installation composed by Cage at the Albany Electronic Music Studios in April 1972 over the course of three days, written for 12 tapes to be played in various combinations of 4, 6, or 8 at a time through speakers. John Cage was assisted in this endeavor by emeritus professor and composer Joel Chadabe and the legendary Robert Moog: the recordings were pre-existing to the sound installation and featured sounds of caged birds, recordings from "Mureau" (1970), and sounds drawn from moments of daily life. It was first performed in 1973 with Joel Chadabe and David Tudor, where the three composers took turns alternating the different tapes without any predefined sequence, thus creating a different environmental context each time. Curiously, listening to it in the same days, I found myself naturally comparing this work to "Le Carnaval des Animaux" by Saint-Saëns. Here too, we have a composition of neo-classical character, albeit minimalist, and at the same time allegorical, where analog instrumentation replaces an entire orchestra. Both composers, a century apart, manage to represent reality through music, marking a continuum within neo-classical music that continues to renew itself today while evidently keeping ties with the past. Defining this work as "suggestive" is certainly limiting, and there is no need to layer the twelve tracks of the record or to play them in different sequences: the sensations derived from listening and the nuances will be different and completely new each time.
#minimalism #avantgarde #johncage
John Cage: Bird Cage (1972)
#buzz
John Cage - Bird Cage (Not On Label, 1972)
Honestly, I don't know if this work has ever been published and in what format. As far as I know, it has been reinterpreted by various composers and musicians over the years, leading to different versions (notably that of William Blakeney) of what can be defined as one of the many experimental masterpieces of the great John Cage. Essentially, "Bird Cage" was a true sound installation composed by Cage at the Albany Electronic Music Studios in April 1972 over the course of three days, written for 12 tapes to be played in various combinations of 4, 6, or 8 at a time through speakers. John Cage was assisted in this endeavor by emeritus professor and composer Joel Chadabe and the legendary Robert Moog: the recordings were pre-existing to the sound installation and featured sounds of caged birds, recordings from "Mureau" (1970), and sounds drawn from moments of daily life. It was first performed in 1973 with Joel Chadabe and David Tudor, where the three composers took turns alternating the different tapes without any predefined sequence, thus creating a different environmental context each time. Curiously, listening to it in the same days, I found myself naturally comparing this work to "Le Carnaval des Animaux" by Saint-Saëns. Here too, we have a composition of neo-classical character, albeit minimalist, and at the same time allegorical, where analog instrumentation replaces an entire orchestra. Both composers, a century apart, manage to represent reality through music, marking a continuum within neo-classical music that continues to renew itself today while evidently keeping ties with the past. Defining this work as "suggestive" is certainly limiting, and there is no need to layer the twelve tracks of the record or to play them in different sequences: the sensations derived from listening and the nuances will be different and completely new each time.
#minimalism #avantgarde #johncage
John Cage: Bird Cage (1972)
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