| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | New York, Cologne, Ireland, Paris, Edinburgh, April-September 1979 |
| Instrumentation: | Hörspiel (Radio play) for electronic tapes, speaker and Irish Folk musicians |
| Duration: | 60' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | October 22, 1979 at 20.15 hours. WDR3 Hörspielstudio in Cologne, Germany. John Cage, speaker; Paddy Glackin, violin; Peadar Mercier, bodrhan; Joe Heaney, voice; Mel Mercier, bodrhan; Matt Malloy, flute; Seamus Ennis, Uillean-pipes |
| Dedicated to: | |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Roaratorio (1983) |
| Published: | as __, __ __ Circus on __ |
| Manuscript: | see __, __ __ Circus on __ |
| This is a realization of the work __, __ __ Circus on __. It is not
a seperation composition. The work consits of the reading of Cage's text Writing for the Second Time through Finnegans Wake (read by John Cage), Irish ballads, jigs and instrumental music played by the musicians mentioned above, and tapes containing a collage of sounds mentioned in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Using the IC program, Cage determined 2293 sounds depiciting locations and noises that appear in Finnegans Wake, all recorded at the places mentioned in the book. There are 15 categories of sounds: Thunderclaps, thunder rumbles and earthquake sounds - Laughing and crying (laughtears) - Loud voice sounds (shouts, etc.) - Farts - Musical instruments (short) - Bells, clocks, chimes - Guns, explosions - Wails - Animals and particular birds - Music (instrumental and singing) - Water - Birds (in general) - Singing - Places. The realization was made in collaboration with John David Fulleman. In 1979 Cage received the Karl-Sczuka Prize for this composition. Sources: Frans van Rossum: Enige bekende feiten over John Cage; Klaus Schöning: Liner notes of CD Wergo WER 6303-2; John Cage: Roaratorio (edited by Klaus Schöning) |