First Chapter of Ecclesiastes
The Preacher



Category: Musical composition
Dated: Fall 1932
Instrumentation: Piano (and voice?)
Duration: Approximately 10'
Premiere and performer(s): November 1932; Harry Hay, basso cantante; John Cage, piano; Santa Monica Women's Club, California
Dedicated to: ---
Choreography: ---
Published: ---
Manuscript: Holograph (11 p.) and Sketches (6 p.) heirs Harry Hay (?). Copies in New York Public Library (JPB 94-24 folder 1, 927)


Some lines have English text from the book of Ecclesiastes written above staff. Sketches consist of 4 parts: The Preacher; The Wind; The Rivers; Labour. Holograph may be incomplete.
The composition was improvised at the piano.

Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; Paul van Emmerik's A John Cage Compendium; New York Public Library online catalog