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5:10
Inside Cage
for prepared piano
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This short work was written for the same preparation found in John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes (1946-8). Much of the material is generated from two sources: five letters (C, A, G, E and D) representing five pitches and the apparent position of being placed outside or inside a cage, with six different pathways through the square; and a simple analysis of the existing sounds of the piano into three categories: dry (drums), semi-dry (drums with sustained quality) and sustained (gamelan bells). I mapped the three timbres onto three imaginary placements: looking into the cage (sustained-semi-dry), circular movement inside the cage (dry), and looking outward (semi-dry-sustained). This composition is dedicated to Patricia von Blumroeder, who premiered it in Mainz, Germany on November 22, 2005.
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Preliminary Notes:
"CAGED"
Half-steps "inside" C, A, G & E.
Prime Numbers:
C=3, A=1, G=7, E=5
Six different pathways of
entering and exiting the cage
C-A
C-E
A-E
C-G
A-G
G-E
yield 5 different 6-note collections,
all with 012 trichords in common.
Existing sounds can be divided into three different kinds:
dry = drums
semi-dry = drums with sustained quality
wet = bells/gamelan
Map the idea of "inside=dry" and "outside=wet" onto the "cage."
This composition is in three sections:
1) Looking inward: six entrances and the play of the two 5-note collections (bars 1-46);
2) Inside the cage: all about drums (bars 47-81);
3) Looking outward and the play of all three sound-types (bar 82-end)
Four additional preparations:
1
1) bolt (1-2) 6" from damper
2) mute (2-3) 6" from damper
2
1) bolt (between 1-2) 1 3/4" from damper
2) mute (2-3) 2" from damper
3
1) plastic (1-2) 2 1/2" from damper
2) rubber (under 2) 10" from damper
4
1) place rubber mute 1-1/4" from damper
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