Sonatas and Interludes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sonatas and Interludes is a collection of twenty pieces for prepared piano

Prepared piano

A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....

by American avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

(1912–1992). It was composed in 1946–1948, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy

Indian philosophy

India has a rich and diverse philosophical tradition dating back to ancient times. According to Radhakrishnan, the earlier Upanisads constitute "...the earliest philosophical compositions of the world."...

and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Ananda Coomaraswamy

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...

, both of which became major influences on the composer's later work. Significantly more complex than his other works for prepared piano, Sonatas and Interludes is generally recognized as one of Cage's finest achievements.

The cycle consists of sixteen sonatas (thirteen of which are cast in binary form

Binary form

Binary form is a musical form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance....

, the remaining three in ternary form) and four more freely structured interludes. The aim of the pieces is to express the eight permanent emotions of the rasa Indian tradition. In Sonatas and Interludes, Cage elevated his technique of rhythmic proportions to a new level of complexity. In each sonata a short sequence of natural numbers and fractions defines the structure of the work and that of its parts, informing structures as localized as individual melodic lines.

History of composition

Cage underwent an artistic crisis in the early 1940s. His compositions were rarely accepted by the public, and he grew more and more disillusioned with the idea of art as communication. He later gave an account of the reasons: "Frequently I misunderstood what another composer was saying simply because I had little understanding of his language. And I found other people misunderstanding what I myself was saying when I was saying something pointed and direct". At the beginning of 1946, Cage met Gita Sarabhai, an Indian musician who came to the United States concerned about Western influence on the music of her country. Sarabhai wanted to spend several months in the US, studying Western music. She took lessons in counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

and contemporary music with Cage, who offered to teach her for free if she taught him about Indian music

Music of India

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...

in return. Sarabhai agreed and through her Cage became acquainted with Indian music and philosophy. The purpose of music, according to Sarabhai's teacher in India, was "to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences", and this definition became one of the cornerstones of Cage's view on music and art in general.

At around the same time, Cage began studying the writings of the Indian art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Ananda Coomaraswamy

. Among the ideas that influenced Cage was the description of the rasa aesthetic and of its eight "permanent emotions". These emotions are divided into two groups: four white (humor, wonder, erotic, and heroic—"accepting one's experience", in Cage's words) and four black (anger, fear, disgust, and sorrow). They are the first eight of the navarasas

Navras

Navras is a mantra found in the Hindu sacred text the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, section I.iii.28. A rather popular mantra in sectarian and non-sectarian Hinduism, it has in recent years been used by several Western artists for use in soundtracks. Most notable are Don Davis for The Matrix, and Bear...

or navrasas ("nine emotions"), and they have a common tendency towards the ninth of the navarasas: tranquility. Cage never specified which of the pieces relate to which emotions, or whether there even exists such direct correspondence between them. He mentioned, though, that the "pieces with bell-like sounds suggest Europe and others with a drum-like resonance suggest the East". (A short excerpt from Sonata II, which is clearly inspired by Eastern music: .) Cage also stated that Sonata XVI, the last of the cycle , is "clearly European. It was the signature of a composer from the West."

Cage started working on the cycle in February 1946, while living in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The idea of a collection of short pieces was apparently prompted by the poet Edwin Denby

Edwin Denby (poet)

Edwin Orr Denby was one of the most important and influential American dance critics of the 20th century, as well as a poet and novelist. His dance reviews and essays were collected in Looking at the Dance , Dancers, Buildings, and People in the Streets and Dance Writings...

, who had remarked that short pieces "can have in them just as much as long pieces can". The choice of materials and the technique of piano preparation in Sonatas and Interludes were largely dependent on improvisation: Cage later wrote that the cycle was composed "by playing the piano, listening to differences [and] making a choice". On several accounts he offered a poetic metaphor for this process, comparing it with collecting shells while walking along a beach. Work on the project was interrupted in early 1947, when Cage made a break to compose The Seasons

The Seasons (Cage)

The Seasons is a ballet with music by John Cage and choreography by Merce Cunningham, first performed in 1947. It was Cage's first piece for orchestra and also the first to use what Cage later called the gamut technique, albeit in an early form....

, a ballet in one act also inspired by ideas from Indian philosophy. Immediately after The Seasons Cage returned to Sonatas and Interludes, and by March 1948 it was completed.

Cage dedicated Sonatas and Interludes to Maro Ajemian

Maro Ajemian

Maro Ajemian was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from her Armenian heritage; she became known as a contemporary pianist after performing the U.S...

, a pianist and friend. Ajemian performed the work many times since 1949, including one of the first performances of the complete cycle on January 12, 1949 in Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

. On many other occasions in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Cage performed it himself. Critical reaction was uneven, but mostly positive, and the success of Sonatas and Interludes led to a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...

, which Cage received in 1949, allowing him to make a six-month trip to Europe. There he met Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...

, who helped organize a performance of the work for his students in Paris on June 7, 1949; and he befriended Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...

, who became an early admirer of the work and wrote a lecture about it for the June 17, 1949 performance at the salon of Suzanne Tézenas in Paris. While still living in Paris, Cage began writing String Quartet in Four Parts

String Quartet in Four Parts

String Quartet in Four Parts is a string quartet by John Cage, composed in 1950. It is one of the last works Cage wrote that is not entirely aleatoric. Like Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano and the ballet The Seasons , this work explores ideas from Indian philosophy.-General...

, yet another work influenced by Indian philosophy.

Piano preparation

In the text accompanying the first recording of Sonatas and Interludes, Cage specifically stated that the use of preparations is not a criticism of the instrument, but a simple practical measure. Cage started composing for prepared piano

Prepared piano

A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....

in 1940, when he wrote a piece called Bacchanale for a dance by Syvilla Fort

Syvilla Fort

Syvilla Fort was an American dancer, choreographer, and dance educator.Born in Seattle, she was African American and drew on her heritage in her original dance works....

, and by 1946 had already composed a large number of works for the instrument. However, in Sonatas and Interludes the preparation is very complex, more so than in any of the earlier pieces. Forty-five notes are prepared, mostly using screws and various types of bolts, but also with fifteen pieces of rubber, four pieces of plastic, several nuts

Nut (hardware)

A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole. Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating bolt to fasten a stack of parts together. The two partners are kept together by a combination of their threads' friction, a slight stretch of the bolt, and compression of the parts...

and one eraser. It takes about two or three hours to prepare a piano for performance. Despite the detailed instructions, any preparation is bound to be different from any other, and Cage himself suggested that there is no strict plan to adhere to: "if you enjoy playing the Sonatas and Interludes then do it so that it seems right to you".

For the most part Cage avoids using lower registers of the piano, and much of the music's melodic foreground lies in the soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

range. Of the forty-five prepared notes, only three belong to the three lowest octaves below F#3: D3, D2 and D1. Furthermore, D2 is prepared in such a way that the resulting sound has the frequency of a D4 (resulting in two variants of D4 available, one more prepared than the other). The portion of the keyboard above F#3 is divided into roughly three registers: low, middle, and high. The low register has the heaviest preparation, and the high register the lightest. Different methods are used: certain notes produce sounds that retain the original frequency

Audio frequency

An audio frequency or audible frequency is characterized as a periodic vibration whose frequency is audible to the average human...

and a pianistic character; others become drum-like sounds, detuned versions of the original notes, or metallic, rattling sounds that have no sense of the fundamental frequency

Fundamental frequency

The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the...

at all. The use of the soft pedal

Soft pedal

The soft pedal is one of the standard pedals on a piano, generally placed leftmost among the pedals. On a grand piano this pedal shifts the whole action including the keyboard slightly to the right, so that hammers which normally strike all three of the strings for a note strike only two of them....

, which makes the hammers strike only two of the three strings of each note (or one, for notes with only two strings), complicates the matter further. For example, the note C5 is a metallic sound with no fundamental discernible when the soft pedal is depressed, but it sounds fairly normal if the pedal is released. It appears that Cage was fully aware of the implications of this: certain sonatas feature interplay between two versions of one note, others place special emphasis on particular notes, and still others are very dependent on particular note combinations.

Structure

The cycle comprises sixteen sonatas and four interludes, arranged symmetrically. Four groups of four sonatas each are separated by interludes in the following way:

Sonatas I–IV Interlude 1 Sonatas V–VIII

Interludes 2–3

Sonatas IX–XII Interlude 4 Sonatas XIII–XVI

Cage refers to his pieces as sonata

Sonata

Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...

in the sense that these works are cast in the form that early classical keyboard sonatas (such as those of Scarlatti) were: AABB. The works are not cast in the later sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

which is far more elaborate. The only exceptions are sonatas IX–XI, which feature three sections: prelude, interlude, and postlude. Sonatas XIV–XV follow the AABB scheme but are paired and given the joint title Gemini—after the work of Richard Lippold, referring to a sculpture by Lippold

Richard Lippold

Richard Lippold was an American sculptor, known for his geometric constructions using wire as a medium....

. The interludes, on the other hand, do not have a unifying scheme. The first two are free-form movements, whereas interludes 3 and 4 have a four-section structure with repeats for each section.

Forms and structural proportions in Sonatas and Interludes
Piece	Form	Proportions	Unit size (bars)
Sonata I	AABB	1¼, ¾, 1¼, ¾, 1½, 1½	7
Sonata II	AABB	1½, 1½, 2⅜, 2⅜	7¾
Sonata III	AABB	1, 1, 3¼, 3¼	8½
Sonata IV	AABB	3, 3, 2, 2	10
Interlude 1	N/A (no repeats)	1½, 1½, 2, 1½, 1½, 2	10
Sonata V	AABB	2, 2, 2½, 2½	9
Sonata VI	AABB	2⅔, 2⅔, ⅓, ⅓	6
Sonata VII	AABB	2, 2, 1, 1	6
Sonata VIII	AABB	2, 2, 1½, 1½	7
Interlude 2	N/A (no repeats)	N/A (unclear)	8
Interlude 3	AABBCCDD	1¼, 1¼, 1, 1, ¼, ¼, ½, ½	7
Sonata IX	ABBCC	1, 2, 2, 1½, 1½	8
Sonata X	AABBC	1, 1, 1, 1, 2	6
Sonata XI	AABCC	2, 2, 3, 1½, 1½	10
Sonata XII	AABB	2, 2, 2½, 2½	9
Interlude 4	AABBCCDD	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1¼, 1¼	8½
Sonata XIII	AABB	1½, 1½, 3½, 3½	10
Sonata XIV	AABB	2, 2, 3, 3	10
Sonata XV	AABB	2, 2, 3, 3	10
Sonata XVI	AABB	3½, 3½, 1½, 1½	10

The main technique Cage used for composition is that of nested proportions: an arbitrary sequence of numbers defines the structure of a piece on both the macroscopic and the microscopic level, so that the larger parts of each piece are in the same relation to the whole as the smaller parts are to a single unit of it. For instance, the proportion for Sonata III is 1, 1, 3¼, 3¼ (in whole note

Whole note

thumb|right|250px|Figure 1. A whole note and a whole rest.In music, a whole note or semibreve is a note represented by a hollow oval note head, like a half note , and no note stem . Its length is equal to four beats in 4/4 time...

s), and a unit here is equal to 8½ bars

Bar (music)

In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...

(the end of a unit is marked with a double barline in the score, unless it coincides with the end of a section). The structure of this sonata is AABB. Section A consists of a single unit, composed according to the given proportion: correlation on the microscopic level. A is repeated, and AA forms the first part of the proportion on the macroscopic level: 1, 1. B consists of three units and an appendix of ¼ of a unit. B is also repeated, and BB gives the second half of the proportion: 3¼, 3¼. Therefore AABB has proportions 1, 1, 3¼, 3¼: correlation on the macroscopic level. The musical phrases within each unit are also governed by the same proportion. See Example 2 for a graph of the structure of Sonata III.

The proportions were chosen arbitrarily in all but the last four pieces in the cycle: sonatas XIII and XVI use symmetrical proportions, and sonatas XIV and XV share the 2, 2, 3, 3 proportion. This symmetry, and the adherence of all four sonatas to the ten-bar unit, were explained by Cage as an expression of tranquility. The complexity of proportions prompted Cage to use asymmetric musical phrases and somewhat frequent changes of time signature

Time signature

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....

to achieve both microscopic and macroscopic correlation. For example, unit length of 8½ in the first section of Sonata III is achieved by using six bars in 2/2 time and two in 5/4 (rather than eight bars in 2/2 and one in 1/2). In many sonatas the microstructure—how the melodic lines are constructed—deviates slightly from the pre-defined proportion.

Cage had frequently used the nested proportions technique and its variations before, most notably in First Construction (in Metal)

Construction (Cage)

Construction is the title of several pieces by American composer John Cage, all scored for unorthodox percussion instruments. The pieces were composed in 1939–42 while Cage was working at the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle, Washington and touring the West Coast with a percussion...

(1939), which was the first piece to use it, and numerous dance-related works for prepared piano

Works for prepared piano by John Cage

American avant-garde composer John Cage started composing for prepared piano in 1940. The majority of early works for this instrument were created to accompany dances by Cage's various collaborators, most frequently Merce Cunningham. In response to frequent criticisms of prepared piano, Cage cited...

. In Sonatas and Interludes, however, the proportions are more complex, partly because fractions are used. In his 1949 lecture on Sonatas and Interludes Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez

specifically emphasized the connection between tradition and innovation in Sonatas and Interludes: "The structure of these sonatas brings together a pre-Classical structure and a rhythmic structure which belong to two entirely different worlds."

Editions

Edition Peters 6755, (c) 1960 by Henmar Press. Presents the original score in Cage's calligraphic
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

notation and the table of preparations.

Recordings

Sonatas and Interludes has been recorded many times, both in its complete form and in parts. This list is organized chronologically and presents only the complete recordings. Years of recording are given, not years of release. Catalogue numbers are indicated for the latest available CD versions. For the complete discography with reissues and partial recordings listed, see the link to the John Cage database below.

Maro Ajemian
Maro Ajemian
Maro Ajemian was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from her Armenian heritage; she became known as a contemporary pianist after performing the U.S...

– 1950, Composers Recordings Inc. CRI 700, él records ACMEM88CD
Yuji Takahashi
Yuji Takahashi
is a Japanese composer, performer, pianist and author.Studied under Roh Ogura and Minao Shibata at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1960, he made his debut as a pianist by performing Bo Nilsson's Quantitaten. He lived in Europe from 1963 to 1966 where he worked with Iannis Xenakis. He gave the...

:
- 1965, Fylkingen Records FYCD 1010 (mono)
- 1975, Denon COCO 70757 (stereo, digital)
John Damgaard – 1971, Membran Quadromania 222190-444 (4CD, incl. many other works)
John Tilbury
John Tilbury
John Tilbury is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM.- Early life and education :...

– 1974, Explore Records EXP0004
Joshua Pierce:
- 1975, Wergo WER 60156-50
- 1988, Newport Classic NPD 85526
- 1999, Ants Records AG 06 (2CD, live recording)
- 2000, SoLyd Records SLR 0303 (live recording)
Gérard Frémy – 1980, Pianovox PIA 521-2, Ogam Records 488004-2, Etcetera Records KTC 2001
Nada Kolundžija – c. 1981, Diskos LPD-930 (2LP)
Darryl Rosenberg – c. 1986, VQR Digital VQR 2001 (LP)
Mario Bertoncini
Mario Bertoncini
Mario Bertoncini is an Italian composer, pianist, and music educator. In 1962 he was awarded the Nicola d'Atri Prize by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for his Sei Pezzi per orchestra and in 1965 he was awarded both the Gaudeamus International Composers Award and the Fondation europeènne...

– 1991, released 2001 as Edition RZ 20001 (Parallele 20001)
Nigel Butterley
Nigel Butterley
Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley AM is an Australian composer and pianist.-Life and career:Butterley learnt to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar School, but as music wasn't taught at the school at that time, he also sought training from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music....

– 1992, Tall Poppies TP025
Herbert Henck – 1993, ECM New Series 1842 (2CD, incl. Henck's Festeburger Fantasien)
Giancarlo Cardini – 1994, Materiali Sonori 90115
Louis Goldstein – 1994, Greensye Music 4794 (incl. Dream)
Philipp Vandré – 1994, Mode 50 (according to the liner notes, this is the first recording made on a Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...

"O"-type baby grand piano, the model Cage originally composed the piece on)
Julie Steinberg – 1995, Music & Arts 937
Markus Hinterhäuser
Markus Hinterhäuser
Markus Hinterhäuser is an Austrian pianist and the current Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival. He studied music at the Vienna Conservatory under Elisabeth Leonskaja and the Mozarteum University of Salzburg under Oleg Maisenberg...

– 1996, Col Legno WWE 1CD 20001
Steffen Schleiermacher
Steffen Schleiermacher
Steffen Schleiermacher is a German composer, pianist, and conductor.After studying at the Leipzig Music School with Siegfried Thiele, he continued working there as a music theory and ear training assistant...

– 1996, MDG 613 0781-2 (3CD, part of John Cage: Complete Piano Works 18CD series)
Aleck Karis – 1997, Bridge 9081 A/B (2CD, incl. Cage's lecture Composition in Retrospect)
Jean Pierre Dupuy – 1997, Stradivarius 33422
Boris Berman – 1998, Naxos 8.559042 or Naxos 8.554345
Joanna MacGregor
Joanna MacGregor
Joanna MacGregor is a classical, jazz and contemporary pianist.-Biography:MacGregor grew up in North London, and was educated at home by her Seventh-day Adventist parents until she attended South Hampstead High School at the age of 11. Her mother is a piano teacher who studied at the Royal...

– 1998, SoundCircus SC 003 (2CD, includes miscellaneous other works by Cage and other composers)
Kumi Wakao – 1999, Mesostics MESCD-0011
Tim Ovens – c. 2002, CordAria CACD 566 (incl. a multimedia CD)
Margaret Leng Tan
Margaret Leng Tan
Margaret Leng Tan is a classical music artist known for her work as a professional toy pianist, performing in major cities around the world on her 51 cm-high toy pianos...

– 2003, Mode 158 (CD and DVD, incl. many other works and several documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

)
Nora Skuta – 2004, Hevhetia Records HV 0011-2-131 (SACD)
Giancarlo Simonacci – 2005, Brilliant Classics 8189 (3CD, part of Complete Music for Prepared Piano)

External links

Sonatas and Interludes data sheet and discography at the John Cage database
John Cage Revision Notes: Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano, a technical essay on the work
James Pritchett: "Six views of the Sonatas and interludes"

Media

Sonata V performed by Bobby Mitchell, YouTube link
4'33" and Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano performed by James Tenney at SASSAS sound, concert archive (streaming quicktime format).

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