| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | April 1991 |
| Instrumentation: | Large orchestra: 4 (+piccolo, +alto flute), 5 (+2 English horns), 5 (+2 Bass clarinets), 5 (+2 Contrabassoons) - 7,5,5,1 - 5 percussionists, strings (18-16-12-12-8) |
| Duration: | 43'30" |
| Premiere and performer(s): | November 30, 1991 at the Messe Stuttgart Killesberg (Kongreßzentrum B, Saal Straßburg) in Stuttgart, Germany, performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart (simultaneously with One8). |
| Dedicated to: | |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Interscape (2000) |
| Published: | Edition Peters 67414 © 1991 by Henmar Press. |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph in ink and typescript - 57 lv.); Incomplete viola part (galley proof with holographic annotations - 2 lv.); Notes and sketches (holograph in ink and photocopies - 6 lv.), all in New York Public Library. |
| 108 can be played with or without
One8 for violoncello solo and/or with
One9 for sho and/or
Two3 for sho and conch-shells. The composition uses flexible time-brackets with single tones, which should be played in a single bow, single breath, or a simulation of that (by circular breathing or imperceptible bow changes). Tones can be short or long, since the beginnings and endings of the brackets overlap. Long sounds should be soft, short ones may be louder. The piece is split up in parts with silence and parts with sounds: 0'00"-1'30", 14'00"-18'00", 32'30"-34'30", 35'00"-39'00" and 42'00"- 43'30" are silent periods, the others are periods of activity. In the case of a cello concerto the violoncello is heard in the silent periods. In this case it is called One8 and 108. The percussion instruments are not named, but are distinguished from one another. All should be very resonant and are played by bowing or by playing tremolos. Cage mentions some possibilities like Chinese and Turkish cymbals, Japanese temple gongs, thundersheets, Balinese gongs and others. |