A Few Links to Cage Material

 

One more day until the big day. 

Here are a few links to Cage material that I found on the nets during the past few years. I think these would be of interest.

My friend Caitlyn recently posted on her blog the 2 LP Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano performed by Gerard Fremy. Fremy's playing of Sonatas & Interludes sounds to me the most percussive of all the "Sonatas & Interludes..." I've listened to so far.

She also posted the Time Records LP that has Cage's "Aria with Fontana Mix" featuring Cathy Berberian. You'll want these for sure.


During 2008, John Kannenberg released Audio Tour: The 4'33" Museum on the Stasisfield net label. The album is a free download. All of the tracks are "performances" of 4'33'' at various museums. It can be argued that he is not actually performing it properly as he is not "not playing" an instrument especially in front of a crowd. They are field recordings of the audio environment at those places and they are quite good. His angle is that he is realizing one of Cage's motivations of 4'33'' in the encouragement of active listening. If so, then I think the album is successful.


In early 2009, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina station WXYC broadcasted a show about Cage on a program called Feedback Farm. WXYC is run and broadcasted by students of the University of North Carolina. The program's hosts discuss Cage's life and concepts, attempt to put in practice some of Cage's ideas and perform a few of his pieces. Yes, it is available for download.


In 1942, Cage wrote and conducted music for Kenneth Patchen's radio play "The City Wears a Slouch Hat." The original entire 1942 broadcast was played on the Wavelength radio program. Wavelength is broadcast on London-based Resonance FM. "The City Wears a Slouch Hat" takes up the entire first half-hour of the episode. A recording of William Burroughs takes up the rest of the episode. Scroll down to find the episode titled "Radio Narratives".


NPR (National Public Radio) also did a Cage overview for the Cage centennial as a tribute on its Hearing Voices podcast. It features recordings of performances of Cage's music. I don't think it's as fun as the Feedback Farm show, but it's suitable for those who prefer a more professionally put-together show.


I plan to feast on some cake tomorrow for the big day. After I indulge myself on the delicious yet calorie-abundant food, I'm going to take a hard look at this site. In the later part of his life, Cage lived on a macrobiotic diet which was introduced to him by his friend Yoko Ono. Cage wrote an overview about the macrobiotic diet. He includes a few recipes and explanations of foods in the macrobiotic diet as well as tips on how to cook those foods.