| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | Malibu, July 10, 1963 |
| Instrumentation: | For any number of players, any sounds or combinations of sounds produced by any means, with or without other activities. |
| Duration: | indeterminate |
| Premiere and performer(s): | July 17, 1963 at the University of California in Los Angeles. Performed by John Cage, together with the choreography by Merce Cunningham |
| Dedicated to: | Peter Pesic |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Field Dances (1963) and Cross Currents (1964) |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6798 © 1963 by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph, signed, in ink - 2 p. + 1 transparency), New York Public Library. |
| This is the second part of a group of three of which Atlas
Eclipticalis is the first (representing 'nirvana', according to HideKazu Yoshida's interpretations
of Japanese Haiku poetry) and 0"00 is the third (representing 'individual
action'). Variations IV represents 'samsara', the turmoil of everyday life. Like the earlier Variations the materials are transparencies (1 sheet with 9 points and 3 small circles) and a short written instruction. All points and circles are cut up and for the creation of a program 7 points and 2 circles are needed, which are all (except for one circle, which is placed anywhere on the map) to be dropped on a map of the performance space, creating places where actions might be performed. Lines are drawn from the placed circle to the points. The second circle is only used if one of the lines intersects it (or is tangent to it). The result is a graphic representation of where sounds may arise. Cage indicates that sounds may be produced inside and outside the performance space. There are no indications of durations, dynamics etc. Sources: Published score; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; New York Public Library online catalog; William Fetterman: John Cage's theatre pieces: Notations and performances; David Revill: The Roaring Silence; Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium; David Vaughan: Merce Cunningham - Fifty Years |