John Cage: Music of Changes (1951)

______________John Cage 100 (1912-2012)__________ John Cage (1912-1992): Music of Changes, for piano (1951). Dedicato a David Tudor. Book I (New York, May 16, 1951) Book II (New York, August 2, 1951) (start at 4’04’’) Book III (New York, October 18, 1951) (start at 22’48’’) Book IV (New York, December 13, 1951) (start at 33’27’’) David Tudor, pianoforte. The title Music of Changes refers to several different meanings. One of them is the Chinese oracle book I Ching, the Book of Changes. Another, more personal reference is the change in Cage’s compositional language. Cage composed the music using I Ching chance operations, in order to create differrent charts for various parameters in the music: tempi, dynamics, sounds and silences, durations and superimpositions. With these charts he created a composition, using a conventional manner of notation with staves and bars, where everything is notated in full detail. The piano is played,