| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | January-February 1943, New York City |
| Instrumentation: | Prepared piano and 3 percussion players |
| Duration: | 9' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | February 7, 1943 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, performed by John and Xenia Cage and Merce Cunningham |
| Other performances: | * June 11, 1949. Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, Paris, France. John Cage, piano (parts I & IV). Performed with Cunningham
choreography * January 15, 1950. Hunter College Playhouse, New York. John Cage, piano (parts I & IV). Performed with choreography * February 2, 1950. Town Hall, New York. John Cage, piano (parts I & IV) * February 8, 1950. Town Hall, New York. John Cage, piano (parts I & IV) * February 9, 1952. Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Maro Ajemian, piano (parts I and IV) |
| Dedicated to: | Rue Shaw |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Amores (1949) |
| Published: | |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph, signed, in ink - 1+16 p.); Score (holograph in ink, with manuscript annotations in ink and pencil, in an unidentified hand - 1+16 p.); 2 parts (players 2&3: holograph in ink - 2+4 p.); 2 parts (players 1&3: holograph in ink, with annotations in unidentified hand, in pencil - 2+3 p.). All in New York Public Library |
| The work consists of 4 parts: I. Solo (prepared piano) - II. Trio (9 tom-toms, pod rattle) - III. Trio (7 woodblocks,
not Chinese) - IV. Solo (prepared piano). The preparation is made using 9 screws, 8 bolts, 2 nuts and 3 strips of rubber. The
piano expresses eroticism and tranquility, based on the permanent emotions in Indian tradition. The rhythmic structure of
solo nr.2 is 3,3,2,2 and of trio 1: 10 times 10. Trio nr.2 was written in Santa Monica as part of Trio
(1936) |