Overview
Introduction
Of his Piano Concerto (1958), John Cage observed, "I regard this work as one 'in progress' which I intend never to consider as in a final state, although I find each performance definitive." The Concerto relies to an extreme level upon chance operations both for its original conception and for each realization in performance. A few years earlier, Cage had begun exploring Eastern philosophies in general and the principle of I Ching, the Chinese Book of Changes, in particular. One feature of the I Ching that Cage found particularly rich in compositional possibilities is a system by which the tossing of coins or sticks can be used to generate a series of random numbers.
Cage consulted the I Ching to determine the musical parameters of the Piano Concerto. The composer employed the results of his explorations to determine the number of notes, dynamic level, articulation, the use of accidentals, and timbre. The positions of the notes on each page were determined by observing the minute imperfections on the paper's surface. The players are allowed much license in interpreting their parts; an excerpt from the lengthy instructions that accompany the trombone part reads: "Though there are twelve pages, any amount of them may be played (including none)." The soloist is given even more material from which to create his role, while the conductor is given only two pages regarding the regulation of the work's widely variable length.
Certainly, audiences are never quite sure what to make of Cage's intractable Concerto. The classic recording of a 1958 performance at New York's Town Hall features, in addition to the noises emanating from the instruments onstage, intermittent guffaws, catcalls, and even a few attempts to end the piece altogether with premature applause. Given Cage's philosophies, it is likely that the composer sincerely appreciated such contributions from the audience.
