| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | May 1942, Chicago |
| Instrumentation: | Narrator and 6 percussion players |
| Duration: | 36' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | May 31, 1942 as broadcast of WBBM radio station (Columbia Broadcasting System in Chicago), as part of their "Columbia Workshop" series. Performance by Xenia Cage, Cilia Amidon, Stuart Lloyd, Ruth Hartman, Claire Oppenheim and John Cage conducting. |
| Dedicated to: | for Xenia [i.e. Xenia Cage] |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | Edition Peters 67497 © 199.. by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph in ink, with mounted typescript text - 48p.); Score (holograph in pencil. May be incomplete - 56 p.); Score (photocopy of holograph - 2+49 p.); 5 parts (Copyist's manuscript in pencil, with emendations in red and black pencil and numerous passages pasted on the the parts. Part for player 6 missing - 41p.). All in New York Public Library |
| Subtitle is "Incidental music for the radio play by Kenneth Patchen". Text by Kenneth Patchen. In 1941 Cage got a commission for CBS Radio to write music for a radio play. Initially Cage composed work, based on his ideas using electronic sound effects, assuming this could be realized in the CBS studios. A week before the radio broadcast, Cage went over to make the recordings, but since the technician told him it could not be done in such a short time, Cage had to compose another work, just four days before its broadcast. The original manuscript is probably lost. The instruments are including: tin cans, muted gongs, woodblocks, alarm bells, tam tam, bass drum, Chinese tom tom, bongos, cowbells, maracas, claves, ratchett, pod rattle, foghorn, thundersheet, sound-effect recordings, etc. The script sketches a surreal story on a man named 'The Voice' who wanders around a big city, meeting various characters and circumstances. The play was directed by Les Mitchell. Actors were Les Tremayne, Madelon Grayson, Forrest Lewis, Jonathan Hole, Frank Dane and John Larkin. Sources: New York Public Library online catalog; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; William Fetterman: John Cage's theatre pieces: Notations and performances; John Kennedy, Charles Wood and James Pritchett: Liner notes of CD Mode 55 |