11/12/07: John Cage’s Imaginary Landscape #3 for 6 percussionists, at the DIA Center’s annual fall benefit.

April 2008 UPDATE: I finally have an audio recording of this performance, which I’ve posted to my chamber music excerpts page here, or just click below:

“Mr. Cage, these are nice people, but… some of them are gonna laugh. Is that alright?”

“Of course. I consider laughter preferable to tears.”

- Cage before a televised performance of “Water Walk”
January, 1960

Most people know John Cage as either a pioneer of “chance” music or as the composer of 4′33″, and although these are some of his most important contributions to 20th century music on the whole, percussionists (myself included) are often introduced to his music via earlier works, written between 1939 and 1942. As early as 1939, Cage remarked that “Percussion music is revolution,” which is a statement he not only stood by until the end of his life, but also backed up by writing two sets of truly revolutionary pieces; the Constructions and the Imaginary Landscapes.

Percussionists owe so much to Cage; his contribution to our repertoire in the first half of the 20th century (along with a few other composers, like Varese) laid the foundation for both the great selection of percussion ensemble music we have now and also the acceptance of percussion into mixed chamber music.

Now I find myself with a great opportunity to show “our” John Cage to an audience of art-world patrons at the DIA Museum’s fall benefit dinner, who may know him first and foremost as a composer of the more esoteric later works written for the dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham. DIA has incidentally just announced a collaboration with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at their Beacon, NY location, hence the tie-in.

The true pleasure of putting this music together is that fun is its first priority (incidentally, fun is my first priority, too). In fact, Cage had an air of mischief to him that you can see in his handwriting, his face, and in the vague but somehow poetic performance instructions, which (without apology) assume we happen to have 3 variable speed turntables, an amplified radio aerial coil, an oscillator, 10 tin cans (of graduated pitch, of course), 2 balinese button-gongs, an electric door buzzer, and a marimbula just lying around. Well, I have a marimbula lying around now, because this piece offered me the excuse I needed to buy one. Thanks Mr. Cage!

Unfortunately, this performance is part of what I assume will be a appropriately expensive dinner for those supporting the DIA Institution, and not open to concertgoers. However, if my colleagues will allow it, I will do my best to get the best recording possible and put the whole thing right at the top of this post, and on the media:chamber page as well.

John Cage
Imaginary Landscape #3
For Six Percussionists
Dated: February 1942, Chicago

Featuring: Michael (Cutlet) Caterizano, David Mancuso, Eric Poland, Chris Thompson, Joe Tompkins, and Yuri Yamashita.

Tickets not available, but do check back for a recording on this site.