Cage on CD Review
I thought it was worth kicking the off with a repeat of Lateral's epic and vivid post about the Cage prom:
I'm finding today's CD Review survey interesting. Good to hear one or two of the pianists I've only read about here (David Tudor, John Tilbury)
Any of our Cage-fighters learning anything?
Originally posted by Lateralthinking1
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I walked into a lot of concert halls in the early 1970s. They had all only recently been built. The music of Cage was always being played there. Often there was hardly a musician in sight. When the pieces were being performed, I was aware that I was gatecrashing a rehearsal. Some were standing up and sitting down while others were drifting around. Vivid though these memories are to me, they never happened. They are an approximation of one or two moments when something like that did occur. Those left an impression. It was intriguing and unfathomable. It was also one version of the future. Looking back, that never arrived.
Still, I was surprised that this concert should feel so much like a new history. It was not just that the soundscapes happened to take me back to every aspect of my infant school classroom. The story of how Cage broke every rule in the book is now quite old and the missed opportunities are regrettable. The event was timely, marking Cage's centenary, and the SSO was terrific. It appears to be on a mission to undertake whatever is virtually impossible. Radio may well create the best pictures. For this one, it was necessary to be in the hall. Alternatively, the television could have made itself useful, not that one expects that now.
At least Andrew McGregor was at the helm. I am in no doubt that he is one of the BBC's finest presenters. Consequently this was a very informative broadcast. Whether having greater knowledge about Cage is in the spirit of Cage I don't know. While the musicians rarely improvised, they were working to the barest of instructions. Anyhow, those of us who merely listen were given layered star charts, rubber bolts in pianos and the nostalgia of cassette recorders. There were singing cactii, transistor radios, and weird notions based on the I-Ching. The mind does strange things. At one point, I swear I heard Olympians in a gym playing basketball around caged animals. Later, there was a pail pump thing going on as a City gent rattled the Financial Times.
In the first half of the programme, 101 musicians performed 'CageL 1O1' and an unknown number of C90s in Hitachis delivered 'Improvisation III". Each held the attention. In the second half, 'But what about the noise of crumpling paper' and 'Branches' were among the highlights. I enjoyed them immensely. Presumably the latter was particularly moving live as the plants with inner microphones were played all round the audience. It must have been a sound and a sight. Some of the other parts of the concert seemed overly long but then we were not seeing the dramatic use of light. Nor crucially did we have the benefit of hearing the music being played to fill the spaces. It would be great to hear from someone who was there how effectively that was achieved.
The music for voice was more simple. 'Four2', based on the letters in Oregon, requires tones to be held for very long durations. It feels shamanic in the way it vibrates the system. Joan La Barbara sang 'Experiences II' which is based on a poem by e e cummings. It was performed with wonderful pitch and clarity, the only small reservation being that she is a singer who runs every 'r' into a vowel. There was also time for other composers. Christian Marclay's 'Luggage 2012' is an extraordinary piece played on instrument cases. Arguably, it received the greatest applause of the night. David Behrman, Takehisa Kosugi, Keith Rowe and Christian Wolff, all of whom knew Cage and many of whom played with him, performed an electronic improvisation. Birds flapped maniacally, hair dryers wailed through motorcycle wheels and all manner of things were ripped asunder. It was quite a night.
I definitely heard reservations in the voice of AM about the latter and one of his guests fell silent. Until then the latter had been effusive as well as being informed. Certainly it wasn't in the spirit of Cage's controlling freedom. In fact, it was a radioactive creature running wild. Initially, it seemed dated. Was there a 'Silver Machine' at the outset? I fear that there might have been but fortunately from Hawkwind it quickly took flight. Oddly, given its remit, it seemed to have been even better rehearsed than the supposedly less impromptu work. That is not to overly criticise. They took Cage back to the blackboard and brought this decade into the RAH. While imagination might be getting the better of me, it could just be a further boost to keeping Cage's spirit alive.
Still, I was surprised that this concert should feel so much like a new history. It was not just that the soundscapes happened to take me back to every aspect of my infant school classroom. The story of how Cage broke every rule in the book is now quite old and the missed opportunities are regrettable. The event was timely, marking Cage's centenary, and the SSO was terrific. It appears to be on a mission to undertake whatever is virtually impossible. Radio may well create the best pictures. For this one, it was necessary to be in the hall. Alternatively, the television could have made itself useful, not that one expects that now.
At least Andrew McGregor was at the helm. I am in no doubt that he is one of the BBC's finest presenters. Consequently this was a very informative broadcast. Whether having greater knowledge about Cage is in the spirit of Cage I don't know. While the musicians rarely improvised, they were working to the barest of instructions. Anyhow, those of us who merely listen were given layered star charts, rubber bolts in pianos and the nostalgia of cassette recorders. There were singing cactii, transistor radios, and weird notions based on the I-Ching. The mind does strange things. At one point, I swear I heard Olympians in a gym playing basketball around caged animals. Later, there was a pail pump thing going on as a City gent rattled the Financial Times.
In the first half of the programme, 101 musicians performed 'CageL 1O1' and an unknown number of C90s in Hitachis delivered 'Improvisation III". Each held the attention. In the second half, 'But what about the noise of crumpling paper' and 'Branches' were among the highlights. I enjoyed them immensely. Presumably the latter was particularly moving live as the plants with inner microphones were played all round the audience. It must have been a sound and a sight. Some of the other parts of the concert seemed overly long but then we were not seeing the dramatic use of light. Nor crucially did we have the benefit of hearing the music being played to fill the spaces. It would be great to hear from someone who was there how effectively that was achieved.
The music for voice was more simple. 'Four2', based on the letters in Oregon, requires tones to be held for very long durations. It feels shamanic in the way it vibrates the system. Joan La Barbara sang 'Experiences II' which is based on a poem by e e cummings. It was performed with wonderful pitch and clarity, the only small reservation being that she is a singer who runs every 'r' into a vowel. There was also time for other composers. Christian Marclay's 'Luggage 2012' is an extraordinary piece played on instrument cases. Arguably, it received the greatest applause of the night. David Behrman, Takehisa Kosugi, Keith Rowe and Christian Wolff, all of whom knew Cage and many of whom played with him, performed an electronic improvisation. Birds flapped maniacally, hair dryers wailed through motorcycle wheels and all manner of things were ripped asunder. It was quite a night.
I definitely heard reservations in the voice of AM about the latter and one of his guests fell silent. Until then the latter had been effusive as well as being informed. Certainly it wasn't in the spirit of Cage's controlling freedom. In fact, it was a radioactive creature running wild. Initially, it seemed dated. Was there a 'Silver Machine' at the outset? I fear that there might have been but fortunately from Hawkwind it quickly took flight. Oddly, given its remit, it seemed to have been even better rehearsed than the supposedly less impromptu work. That is not to overly criticise. They took Cage back to the blackboard and brought this decade into the RAH. While imagination might be getting the better of me, it could just be a further boost to keeping Cage's spirit alive.
Any of our Cage-fighters learning anything?
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