| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | Tokyo, October 24, 1962 |
| Instrumentation: | Solo to be performed in any way by anyone |
| Duration: | indeterminate |
| Premiere and performer(s): | Tokyo, October 24, 1962 performed by John Cage ("The first performance was the writing of this manuscript") |
| Dedicated to: | Toshi Ichiyanagi and Yoko Ono |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6796 © 1962 by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Sketches (holograph, signed, in ink, black and purple pencil - 6 p. JPB 94-24 folder 285) in New York Public Library; Draft (1 lf.), private collection. |
| The score consists of one sentence: "In a situation provided with maximum amplification (no feedback),
perform a disciplined action." A day later Cage added some instructions, like allowing interruptions of the action,
not repeating the same action in another performance or that the action should not be the performance of a musical
composition. This is the third and last work in a series corresponding to the 3 lines of Haiku poetry. For details: see Variations IV. Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema met Variaties; Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium; David Vaughan: Merce Cunningham - Fifty Years; New York Public Library online catalog; William Fetterman: John Cage's theatre pieces: Notations and performances; C.F.Peters online catalog |