Four Solos for Voice
Official title: Solos for Voice 93-96



Category: Musical composition
Dated: April 1988, New York City
Instrumentation: for any solo or combination of soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass
Duration: 15'
Premiere and performer(s):
Dedicated to: for the Electric Phoenix
Choreography: ---
Published: Edition Peters 67226 © 1988 by Henmar Press
Manuscript: Sketches (holograph in ink - 8 lvs. Folder 773); Sketches (holograph in ink - 21 lvs. Folder 774), both in New York Public Library


Solo 93 is for soprano, Solo 94 for mezzo-soprano, Solo 95 for tenor and Solo 96 for bass.
The Solos are composed in the same manner as the Solo for Voice 1. Cage uses "three kinds of symmetrical time-brackets. Two kinds have marges for beginnings and endings of 30 seconds and an external overlapping of 15 seconds; The internal overlapping in one kind lasts 15 seconds and is absent in the other kind, meaning that the duration between the end of the time-bracket indicating the beginning and the beginning of the time-bracket indicating the end, is 0 seconds. The third kind has time-brackets of 45 seconds (beginning and end-brackets) and internal overlappings of 15 seconds. Hence the virtual durations of these three time-brackets is 30, 45 or 60 seconds" (translated from Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties).
The text is principally in English and is randomly selected from volumes in a bookcase in Cage's home.

Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; New York Public Library online catalog; David Nicholls: The Cambridge Companion to John Cage; James Pritchett: John Cage: Choral Music (a timeline) (Liner notes for CD Mode 71); C.F.Peters worklist