WorldView Episode 69: John Cage
Episode sixty-nine of WorldView features an instrument never heard on this show before. A “prepared piano” is made by placing a variety of metal objects between the strings of a piano. Although these alterations do not harm the instrument, they change the sound of the music it creates. This post will explore the life of John Cage, who invented the prepared piano in 1938.
Born in Los Angeles in 1912, John Milton Cage Jr. began playing piano in elementary school, inspired by family members and a desire to improve his sight reading skills. In high school, however, Cage took a strong interest in literature and theology. He studied the latter at Pomona College in Los Angeles, but soon dropped out to pursue writing. While traveling abroad in Europe, he was exposed to the works of composers Paul Hindemith and Johann Sebastian Bach, among others.
By the 1930s, Cage had begun taking lessons in composition with various instructors on the East Coast. He was particularly inspired by Austrian-American Arnold Schoenberg, with whom he studied from 1933 to 1935. Some of his early works include “Sonata for Clarinet (1933)”, “Bacchanale, for prepared piano (1938)”, and “First Construction (In Metal)”. However, Cage wrote one of his most famous pieces in 1952. Entitled 4’33”, it consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. The experimental piece, like many of Cages compositions, is designed to encourage a new understanding of music.
This episode of WorldView features Cage’s “Three Dances for Two Prepared Pianos”. The piece was commissioned by Fitzdale and Gold, and composition was completed in 1945. Enjoy!
WorldView Episode Sixty-Nine Playlist:
Katherine PARKER, “Down Longford Way (arr. Grainger)”, {Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra, Clark Rundell} - Chandos
John CAGE, “Three Dances for Two Prepared Pianos”, {Gerard Bouwhois (pf), Cees van Zeeland (pf)} - Babel
Victor KOSENKO, “Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 10 in D Minor”, {Julia Pantelyat (cl), Dmitrij Manelis (pf)} - Dorian
Clarence Cameron WHITE, “Basque Folk Song”, {Marcus Eley (clar), Lucerne DeSa (pf)} - Sono Luminus
WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Jennifer Higdon and Sergio Assad, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 4AM, 9AM and 6PM (with rebroadcasts Saturdays at 2PM and 7PM) on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.