'Back from Weather Which Had Been Reached to Object': John Cage's Number Pieces Two (1987) and Four (1990)

This essay focuses on two selected Number Pieces -- Two (1987) for flute and piano, the first work of the series, and Four (1990) for mixed chorus. Closely examining the two main musical concerns of Cage's last creative phase -- his changed view of harmony and the specific nature of the time br...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inContemporary music review Vol. 33; no. 5-6; p. 597
Main Author Hünermann, Tobias
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Taylor & Francis Ltd 02.11.2014
Subjects
Cage, John
Composition
Metaphor
Music
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Summary:This essay focuses on two selected Number Pieces -- Two (1987) for flute and piano, the first work of the series, and Four (1990) for mixed chorus. Closely examining the two main musical concerns of Cage's last creative phase -- his changed view of harmony and the specific nature of the time brackets -- this analysis tries to uncover the presence of the compositional subject under the system of chance in order to show why Cage feels 'at home' in his Number Pieces, having reached a point in his career where he deems as fulfilled his idea of music as a metaphor for society through the harmonization of the Apollonian and Dionysian, of order and chance on both a temporal and harmonic level.
ISSN:0749-4467
1477-2256
DOI:10.1080/07494467.2014.998424