Prepared Piano: The First Four Decades

various artists compilation - Prepared Piano: The First Four Decades

LP released in 1983

recorded at EMRLD Studios, Carson, California, June 1979

Bacchanale (1940) composed by John Cage

performed by Richard Bunger - piano

In the late thirties I was employed as accompanist for the classes in modern dance at the Cornish School in Seattle, Washington. These classes were taught by Bonnie Bird who had been a member of Martha Graham's Company. Among her pupils was an extraordinary dancer, Syvilla Fort, later an associate in New York City of Katherine Dunham. Three or four days before she was to perform her Bacchanale, Syvilla asked me to write music for it. I agreed.
The Cornish Theatre in which Syvilla Fort was to perform had no space in the wings. There was also no pit. There was, however, a piano at one side in front of the stage. I couldn't use percussion instruments for Syvilla's dance, though, suggesting Africa, they would have been suitable; they would have left too little room for her to perform. I was obliged to write a piano piece.
I spent a day or so conscientiously trying to find an African 12-tone row. I had no luck. I decided that what was wrong was not me but the piano. I decided to change it.
Having decided to change the sound of the piano in order to make a music suitable for Syvilla Fort's Bacchanale, I went to the kitchen, got a pie plate, brought it into the living room and placed it on the piano strings. I played a few keys. The piano sounds had been changed, but the pie plate bounced around due to the vibrations, and, after a while, some of the sounds that had been changed no longer were. I tried something smaller, nails between the strings. They slipped down between and lengthwise along the strings. It dawned on me that screws or bolts would stay in position. They did. And I was delighted with the sounds they produced. I wrote the Bacchanale quickly and with the excitement continual discovery provided. (John Cage)

In 1976, I was very excited to have the opportunity to examine the original, "authentic" preparation materials, which John said were his and Jeanne Kirstein's (she made the first recording of Bacchanle for Columbia).
My recording utilizes the approach to preparation Jeanne Kirstein and John Cage developed for her recording, which I believe is more correct than the presently published version of the Bacchanale score. (Richard Bunger)

May Rain (1941) composed by Lou Harrison

performed by Richard Bunger - piano and Joan La Barbara - voice

text by Elsa Gidlow

May Rain was written for my friend William Weaver to sing. The beautiful poem by my wonderful friend Elsa Gidlow first appeared in the very early thirties, and currently is printed in her Sapphic Songs Seventeen to Seventy (Diana Press, 1976). The music was printed in the first issue of Peter Garland's Soundings. (Lou Harrison)

For Prepared Piano composed by Alan Stout

performed by Richard Bunger - piano

I Nervously
II Tranquillo
III Moderato, serenely
II Tranquillo (da capo)
IV Distantly, unemotionally

For Prepared Piano was composed when I was a student. Henry Cowell introduced me to John Cage in November 1951. I was very taken with the idea of macro-microcosmic form of Cage's sonatas and interludes. Cowell encouraged me to compose in as many styles as possible until I found one I could call my own. This is a piece outside the main body of my output, which reflects my imitation of Cage's works. (Alan Stout)

Silent Night (1976) composed by Samuel Pellman

performed by Delores Stevens - piano

Silent Night was composed in the autumn of 1976. It is not programmatic except in the sense that it evokes sounds and feelings the composer recalls from a silent, solitary walk on a snowy December evening some years ago. The material of the piece is comprised of a limited number of thematic/textural fragments, subjected to a good deal of manipulation, and arranged into something of a mosaic form. These fragments, however, tend to coalesce into larger-scale sections, which together comprise a five-part form for the work, and are subtitled as follows: Twilight Snowfall, Distant Lights, Reverie, Journey to Bethlehem, and Coda (Rest in Heavenly Piece). All 88 notes of the piano are prepared: clothespins and rubber erasers are affixed to the strings of the lower octaves; the middle octaves are altered by round or flat-head stove bolts; the upper octaves are given an extra sparkle by wood screws which are fit loosely between the strings. The piece is dedicated to the composer's wife, Colleen. (from the liner notes)

Something for Flute and Piano (1967) composed by August Wegner

performed by Delores Stevens - piano and John Heitmann - flute

Something for Flute and Piano might be thought of as a dance from some mythical, exotic land. Although the texture is somewhat pointillistic, the pulse is quite intense throughout most of the piece. Multiphonics are used with the flute and there is some improvisation in the middle section for both instruments. The piece is essentially percussive with the flute being treated both as a percussion instrument and the piano being used as a percussion instrument and, in the middle section, partially as a "source tape" for improvisation. The work is meant to be enjoyed for its play of rhythm and timbre. (from the liner notes)

Mirrors for Pianist and Tape Recordist (1978) composed by Richard Bunger

performed by Delores Stevens - piano and Richard Bunger - tape recorder

Mirrors for Pianist and Tape Recordist was composed in August, 1978, during a time I had become obsessed with the works of Loren Eiseley and was rereading Jorge Luis Borges's Book of Imaginary Beings. I was struck by the parallel between Eiseley's essay "The Snout" and the ancient Chinese myth of the kingdom of the mirrors - wherein lies a world temporarily doomed to merely repeat the actions of the human world. "Nonetheless, a day will come when the magic spell will be shaken off," according to Borges. I have ever since held all "lower" forms in greater respect.
The noted contemporary pianist David Burge has written that Mirrors for Pianist and Tape Recordist "ranks with the best that has been written for the instrument during the 70s." (Richard Bunger)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. John Cage - Bacchanale {9:49}

2. Lou Harrison - May Rain {2:25}

3. Alan Stout - For Prepared Piano {9:00}

Side 2

1. Samuel Pellman - Silent Night {7:29}

2. August Wegner - Something for Flute and Piano {5:35}

3. Richard Bunger - Mirrors for Pianist and Tape Recordist {8:32}

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