| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | New York City, January 1985 |
| Instrumentation: | for piano or organ solo |
| Duration: | Various durations mentioned: 5'-10', 20', 25'. The CD recordings last between 6'-18'. Thomas Moore: "I asked John to write something 5 to 10 minutes in duration. When we first talked about the structure of the piece and its duration (after he had the concept underway), he said something like: "If each of the eight sections were to take one minute, then the piece would be eight minutes long." " |
| Premiere and performer(s): | "It's hard to know when the first performance was, because the score was distributed to all the contestants in advance of the competition, and probably some of them performed it prior to the competition" (Thomas Moore) |
| Dedicated to: | to the memory of Madolyn Leonardt |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Views on Stage (2004) and Views on Camera/ Views for Video (2004) |
| Published: | Edition Peters 67070 © 1985 by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Notes and worksheets (holograph in ink with holographic annotations - 17 p. Folder 765); Score (holograph in ink on graph paper - 4 p. Folder 1052); Score (galley proof with holgraphic annotations - 4 p. Folder 1053); Score, edited for organ by Brian Schober (manuscript in ink in Schober's hand - 4 p. Folder 1054), all in New York Public Library |
| Commissioned by Thomas Moore for the University of Maryland
International Piano Festival and Competition (now known as the William Kapell Competition). The title stands for "As SLow(ly) and Soft(ly) as Possible" and also refers to "Soft morning city. Lsp!" (from James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'). The work consists of eight pieces. One of those should be omitted in a performance and another should be repeated. The order of the pieces must be maintained, but the repetition may be placed anywhere. "This way, John told me,... the competition jury wouldn't have to listen to the same piece over and over" (Thomas Moore quoted in Joan Retallack: Musicage). Dynamics and tempo are free. Cage mentions that, in a performance, the music should sound the way the score looks. Sources: Ircam website; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; New York Public Library online catalog; Joan Retallack: Musicage - Cage muses on Art Words Music; Stephen Drury: Liner notes for CD Mode 63; Information provided by Thomas Moore (personal communication) |