| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | New York City, February 1946 - March 1948 |
| Instrumentation: | Prepared piano |
| Duration: | 70' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | Different dates and performers are mentioned in different sources: In 1946 Maro Ajemian performed part of the work. Several sources mention Cage performing the complete work for the first time in april 1948 (at Black Mountain College in North Carolina), but the liner notes of the Naxos recording give another date and performer: January 11, 1949 by Maro Ajemian. James Pritchett mentions the same performance year and performer in his 'The Music of John Cage'. |
| Other performances: | * June 17, 1949. Salon of Suzanne Tézenas, Paris, France. John Cage, piano. Introduced by Pierre Boulez * March 13, 1951. Auditorium, Julius Hartt School of Music, Hartford, CT. John Cage, piano. Selection of 5 sonatas & 1 interlude * April 8, 1951. Woman's Club Auditorium, Denver, CO. John Cage, piano * October 7, 1951. McCosh 50, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. John Cage, piano * May 5, 1952. Cherry Lane Theatre, New York. Shogher Markarian performed selections * July 28, 1952. Woman's College, University of North Carolina, Burnsville, NC. John Cage, piano * November 14, 1953. Carnegie Theatre, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA. John Cage, piano. |
| Dedicated to: | for Maro Ajemian |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6755 © 1960 by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Score, lacking title page, table of preparations and Sonata I (holograph copy in ink - 31 p.) in New York Public Library. |
| The Sonatas and Interludes are Cage's prepared piano masterwork. Much has been written about the
composition, in just about any article or book about the composer. The list of available CD recordings amounts to 14 at the
time of writing these lines (December 2000). In the composition Cage expresses his interpretation of the permanent emotions of Indian tradition: The Herois, the Erotic, the Wondrous, the Comic (the four light moods), Sorrow, Fear, Anger, the Odious (the four dark moods) and their common tendency toward tranquility. It was Cage's first composition using Hindu philosophy and he composed the Sonatas and Interludes in a period of reading the works of the Indian art historian and critic Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Sonatas I through VIII and XII through XVI are written in AABB rhythmic structure, using varying proportions. The first two interludes have no structural repetitions. The last two interludes as well as Sonatas IX, X and XI have a prelude, interlude and postlude. In his book 'The Music of John Cage' James Pritchett gives a very thorough analysis of the structure of the work. The order of the Sonatas and Interludes is as follows: Sonatas I-IV; First Interlude; Sonatas V-VIII; Second Interlude; Third Interlude; Sonatas IX-XII, Fourth Interlude; Sonatas XIII-XVI. Sonatas XIV and XV are paired together under the name "Gemini - after the work of Richard Lippold" (an American sculptor). The preparation of the piano is quite elaborate and takes between 2 to 3 hours. A total of 45 notes are prepared, mainly by using screws and bolts, plus 15 pieces of rubber, 4 pieces of plastic, 6 nuts and one eraser. In the last few years there has been a tendency to perform the work on a smaller piano, instead of concert grand piano. The reason for this is that Cage probably wrote the work on his own, smaller piano. Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage writer - previously uncollected pieces; David Revill: The Roaring Silence; New York Public Library online catalog; C.F.Peters Catalog; Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium |