Imaginary Landscape No. 5 | |
---|---|
by John Cage | |
![]() John Cage (1988) | |
Composed | 1952 |
Performed | January 18, 1952 - New York |
Published | Edition Peters |
Movements | 1 |
Scoring | 42 recordings |
Imaginary Landscape No. 5 (sometimes also entitled Imaginary Landscapes No. 5 [lower-alpha 1] ) is a composition by American composer John Cage and the fifth and final installment in the series of Imaginary Landscapes . It was composed in 1952.
After working on his Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (March No. 2) and his Music of Changes , Cage's first two works to feature utter indeterminacy, Cage started working with Morton Feldman on graphical scores, which was fairly avant-garde at the time. Fascinated by the idea of detaching himself from the music he was making, he decided to write a piece that used the system in No. 4, but with recorded music rather than radio broadcasting. This piece was a part of Cage's two contributions to a project entitled Project for Music for Magnetic Tape, the other one being Williams Mix , composed in a similar fashion and also presented on graphic paper. [1] However, the piece was to be realized as a tape recording, and not to be broadcast.
With the help of long-time collaborator David Tudor and the technical assistance from Bebe and Louis Barron, Cage realized the composition on January 18, 1952. Cage used mostly jazz recordings to make this piece, which called for 42 recordings, presented as disposed in the score. This work became the basis of a dance piece, entitled Portrait of a Lady, which premiered in New York in 1952 by Jean Erdman. [2] The score was eventually published by Edition Peters. [3]
This piece consist of only one movement and the average duration varies widely from recording to recording. It is scored for 42 recordings disposed in eight tracks in a mixing studio, all of them being re-recorded into tape as disposed in the score. The score itself is a block-grid, wherein each square is meant to be three inches of recording (around 0.2 seconds). The score also indicates the changes in dynamics and includes crescendos and diminuendos. [4] Whereas duration and amplitude are specified in the score, there is no mention from Cage as to what recordings or what type of music should be used for performing the piece. The compositional method was use of the I Ching, creating a chart work with a five to five structure, as in Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (March No. 2). [3]
The following is an incomplete list of recordings of Imaginary Landscape No. 5:
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means. Pure electronic instruments depended entirely on circuitry-based sound generation, for instance using devices such as an electronic oscillator, theremin, or synthesizer. Electromechanical instruments can have mechanical parts such as strings, hammers, and electric elements including magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Such electromechanical devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric piano and the electric guitar.
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, artist, and philosopher. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.
Morton Feldman was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. Feldman's works are characterized by notational innovations that he developed to create his characteristic sound: rhythms that seem to be free and floating, pitch shadings that seem softly unfocused, a generally quiet and slowly evolving music, and recurring asymmetric patterns. His later works, after 1977, also explore extremes of duration.
Earle Brown was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since—notably the downtown New York scene of the 1980s and generations of younger composers.
Music of Changes is a piece for solo piano by John Cage. Composed in 1951 for pianist and friend David Tudor, it is a ground-breaking piece of indeterminate music. The process of composition involved applying decisions made using the I Ching, a Chinese classic text that is commonly used as a divination system. The I Ching was applied to large charts of sounds, durations, dynamics, tempo and densities.
Music for Piano is a series of 85 indeterminate musical compositions for piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage. All of these works were composed by making paper imperfections into sounds using various kinds of chance operations.
Imaginary Landscape is the title of a series of five pieces by American composer John Cage, all of which include instruments or other elements requiring electricity. The series comprises the following works:
Imaginary Landscape No. 1 is a composition for records of constant and variable frequency, large chinese cymbal and string piano by American composer John Cage and the first in the series of Imaginary Landscapes. It was composed in 1939.
Live electronic music is a form of music that can include traditional electronic sound-generating devices, modified electric musical instruments, hacked sound generating technologies, and computers. Initially the practice developed in reaction to sound-based composition for fixed media such as musique concrète, electronic music and early computer music. Musical improvisation often plays a large role in the performance of this music. The timbres of various sounds may be transformed extensively using devices such as amplifiers, filters, ring modulators and other forms of circuitry. Real-time generation and manipulation of audio using live coding is now commonplace.
Piano and String Quartet is a composition by American avant-garde composer Morton Feldman. It was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and pianist Aki Takahashi, who premiered the piece at the 7th annual New Music America Festival in Los Angeles and released a studio recording in 1993.
Petrina is an Italian composer, pianist and songwriter.
Williams Mix (1951–1953) is a 4'15" musique concrete composition by John Cage for eight simultaneously played independent quarter-inch magnetic tapes. The first octophonic music, the piece was created by Cage with the assistance of Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, and David Tudor, using many tape sound sources and a paper score he created for the construction. "Presignifying the development of algorithmic composition, granular synthesis and sound diffusion," it was the third of five pieces completed in the Project for Music for Magnetic Tape (1951–1954), funded by dedicatee architect Paul Williams.
Imaginary Landscape No. 3 is a composition for six percussionists by American composer John Cage and the third in the series of Imaginary Landscapes. It is the last Imaginary Landscape to feature percussion instruments and, therefore, the last one to be considered a chamber piece. It was composed in 1942.
Imaginary Landscape No. 2 is a composition for five percussionists by American composer John Cage and the second in the series of Imaginary Landscapes. It was also the first march in the set, the second being Imaginary Landscape No. 4 . It was composed in 1942.
But what about the noise of crumpling paper which he used to do in order to paint the series of "Papiers froissés" or tearing up paper to make "Papiers déchirés?" Arp was stimulated by water, forests, sometimes shortened as But what about the noise..., is a composition for percussion ensemble by American composer John Cage. It was finished in 1985.
Imaginary Landscape No. 4 is a composition for 24 performers on 12 radios and conductor by American composer John Cage and the fourth in the series of Imaginary Landscapes. It is the first installment not to include any percussion instrument at all and Cage's first composition to be based fully on chance operations. It is also the second march in the set of Imaginary Landscapes, after Imaginary Landscape No. 2 . It was composed in 1951.
Five Pianos is a composition for five pianists composed in 1972 by American composer Morton Feldman. The piece is scored for five pianos and one celesta performed by the fourth pianist; the performers are also required to hum specific notes throughout the composition. It was first performed in Berlin on January 31, 1972, as part of the Berliner Musiktage festival, with the composer as one of the humming pianists.
Piece for Four Pianos is a musical composition for four pianos by American composer Morton Feldman. It was finished in 1957.