| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | First movement: September 2, 1933; Third Movement: September 5, 1933. Final corrections were made in 1963. Composed in Los Angeles, California |
| Instrumentation: | Clarinet in B flat |
| Duration: | 6' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | ? |
| Dedicated to: | --- |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6753 © by Henmar Press 1960 |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph in ink - 4 p.) and score (holograph, signed in ink - 7 p.) with corrections from the original manuscript. Both in New York Public Library. |
| The Sonata is in three movements: Vivace, Lento and Vivace. It was written in the time where he lived in Los
Angeles. Solo for clarinet is a chromatic work. The third movement is, though not rhythmically, a retrogade canon of the first. Octave transpositions are used. The Sonata for Clarinet is a typical early example: It is rhythmically complex, and unmetrical. Cage makes a free use of short motives, repeating and varying them throughout. The second movement sounds very close to serial music, but Cage never used this method of composition. Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; James Pritchett: The Music of John Cage; Published score; Paul van Emmerik's A John Cage Compendium; New York Public Library online catalog; David Revill: The Roaring Silence |