| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | N.Y.C., October 1952 (end of first part); January 16, 1953 (end of splicing) |
| Instrumentation: | Magnetic tape |
| Duration: | 4'15" |
| Premiere and performer(s): | March 21, 1953 at the University of Illinois, Urbana as a part of the University of Illinois Festival of Contemporary Arts. |
| Other performances: | |
| Dedicated to: | |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | --- |
| Manuscript: | Part of score (holograph in pencil on graph paper - p.2-13. Folder 188); Score (holograph in black, green and orange pencil - 1+192 p. Folder 190); Notes (typescript - 1 lf. Folder 191); Biographical note (typescript with holographic annotations - 1 lf. Folder 192); Sketches (holograph in pencil - 4 lvs. Folder 953), all in New York Public Library |
| This is a work for eight tracks of ¼ inch magnetic tape. The score is a pattern for the cutting and
splicing of the sounds recorded on the tape. The rhythmic structure is 5-6-16-3-11-5. The sounds are in 6 categories: A (city sounds), B (country sounds), C (electronic sounds), D (manually produced sounds), E (wind produced sounds) and F ("small" sounds, which need to be ampified). Pitch, timbre and loudness are notated as well. Approximately 600 recordings are necessary to make a version of the piece. The compositional means were I Ching chance operations. Cage made a realization of the work in 1952/53 (starting in May 1952) with the assistance of Earle Brown, Louis and Bebe Barron, David Tudor, Ben Johnston and others, but it also possible to create other versions, using the score. Sources: Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage (ex)plain(ed); Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage writer - previously uncollected pieces; David Revill: The Roaring Silence; New York Public Library online catalog; John Cage: Liner notes for the release of the recording on the Avakian label (reprinted in Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage - An Anthology); Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium |