| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | 1946 |
| Instrumentation: | Piano solo |
| Duration: | 5' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | Different sources give different information. Paul van Emmerik and others mention February 27, 1946, performed with the choreography at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, near New York City. The New York Public Library gives another date and place, which seems to make less sense: December 27, 1945 at the New York Times Hall in New York. |
| Other performances: | * November 26, 1950. Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association, New York. David Tudor, piano. Performed with Erdman
choreography * February 5, 1953 at State University Teachers College, New Paltz, NY. Jack Maxin, piano * July 7, 1953 at University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. Jack Maxin, piano |
| Dedicated to: | for Jean Erdman |
| Choreography: | Jean Erdman |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6788 © 1977 by Henmar Press. Also published in "John Cage: Pianoworks (1935-1948)", Edition Peters 67830 © ?. |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph, signed, in ink - 9 p.); Proof copy of published edition (contains emendations in black and red pencil and revisions to the title page in blue ink - 9 p.); Directions concerning duplication for publication (typescript - 1 lf.), all in New York Public Library. |
| Ophelia has a strongly rhythmic character and a typically sectional form. It is a dramatic piece and has the
phraseology of the Jean Erdman dance, for which it was composed. The sustaining pedal is used extensively. Sources: New York Public Library online catalog; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium; David Revill: The Roaring Silence; C.F.Peters catalog; Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage: Writer - Previously uncollected pieces |