Screwed

[ardcarp]

Would you let anyone do this to your piano?



And did Cage have shares in Steinway?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Absolutely not.

But composers are no respectors of hard-earned instruments of underpaid musicians.
Would composers note this before considering “col legno”.

[Bryn]

Would you let anyone do this to your piano?



And did Cage have shares in Steinway?

One might if one was Joanna McGregor, but most pianists prepare their own pianos, rather than getting an assistant to do it for them. At the performance I attended yesterday evening, Zubin Kanga made several changed to his piano's preparations between, and sometimes during the works he perfromced. No cage, however.

[Old Grumpy]

(+Pedant) Joanna McGregor (-Pedant). That aside - I fail to see how "preparation" can improve on the sound of the in instrument in any musical context.

OG

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's an "improvement" only in the sense that preparation creates a different set of sounds from usual, OG; sounds more appropriate in the context of the works written for Prepared Piano.

[Old Grumpy]

It's an "improvement" only in the sense that preparation creates a different set of sounds from usual, OG; sounds more appropriate in the context of the works written for Prepared Piano.

I understand what you say, FHG, but does it sound better - IMV, no..

OG

[Bryn]

I understand what you say, FHG, but does it sound better - IMV, no..

OG

The timbre is mutated to what the composer or improviser is seeking. It is different, in that, it better serves the musical intent.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, I see what you're saying* - but does a violin (or any instrument) sound "better" with a Mute attached than without? It's the context of the Music that makes it "right".

(* - I think it's "I don't like the Music written for Prepared Piano"? )

[Pulcinella]

(+Pedant) Joanna McGregor (-Pedant).

OG

???
Joanna MacGregor, I think you'll find.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/artists/2147--joanna-macgregor

[MrGongGong]

I understand what you say, FHG, but does it sound better - IMV, no..

OG

"Better" than what ?

What a strange question

[Dave2002]

(+Pedant) Joanna McGregor (-Pedant). That aside - I fail to see how "preparation" can improve on the sound of the in instrument in any musical context.

OG

+perfromced

I rather like that word - conjures up some amusing images.

Were there more or fewer typos after the edit?

Was that particular instrument permanently damaged - maybe not? Surely it’s an attempt to give different sounds to the instrument.

One question though - are the changes intended to be “permanent” (as in repeatable during a performance) or with a random element which changes as each note is struck? I can imagine modifications with, for example, marbles or aluminium foil which would vary the sound during a piece. That would seem to change the philosophy behind the performance concept.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

One question though - are the changes intended to be “permanent” (as in repeatable during a performance) or with a random element which changes as each note is struck? I can imagine modifications with, for example, marbles or aluminium foil which would vary the sound during a piece. That would seem to change the philosophy behind the performance concept.

Depends on which work is being played - some works (such as Cage's Sonatas and Interludes) require a single "preparation" for the whole work, others can be adjusted during performance although, because the exact positioning of objects along the length of a piano string is often essential to the successful realization of a specific sound, this cannot always be done quickly, so limiting the opportunities. Having an assistant helps, but this still needs sufficient rehearsal time to get the timing and positioning right.

[MrGongGong]

[Dave2002]

Depends on which work is being played - some works (such as Cage's Sonatas and Interludes) require a single "preparation" for the whole work, others can be adjusted during performance although, because the exact positioning of objects along the length of a piano string is often essential to the successful realization of a specific sound, this cannot always be done quickly, so limiting the opportunities. Having an assistant helps, but this still needs sufficient rehearsal time to get the timing and positioning right.

That assumes that the composer and/or the performers have an idea of what the piece “should” sound like - what is “successful”, which is philosophically different from music with random elements where maybe nobody knows what’s going to happen. Some composers may adopt that philosophy - if not for all of their works, for some of them. Also are the composers and performers the only people who “own” the music?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

That assumes that the composer and/or the performers have an idea of what the piece “should” sound like

Yes - as I said, "it depends on [the] work": if the composer has a definite idea of what the resulting sounds will be (as in the Sonatas and Interludes) then these have to be followed by performers if they wish to re-present the work. (Some of the exact positions on a piano that Cage supplies with the score don't work on all pianos, as Cage discovered to his surprise - in which case <ho-ho> the measurememnts have to be tweaked until the expected sound is achieved.)

- what is “successful”, which is philosophically different from music with random elements where maybe nobody knows what’s going to happen. Some composers may adopt that philosophy - if not for all of their works, for some of them. Also are the composers and performers the only people who “own” the music?

Yes - as I said, it depends which work is being played. If the work is intended to offer a range of possibilities for performers, then all results have different validities.