Sonatas and Interludes

Sonatas and Interludes is a collection of 20 pieces for prepared piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1946-48, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, both of which became major influences on the composer's later work. Sonatas and Interludes is generally recognized as one of the finest achievements of Cage's entire career.

History of composition

During the first half of the 1940s Cage was experiencing an artistic crisis. His compositions were rarely, if ever, accepted by the public, and he was gradually becoming more and more disillusioned with the idea of art as communication. In a 1963 interview he recalled his reasons for abandoning this concept of art: "[...] frequently I misunderstood what another composer was saying simply because I had little understanding of his language. And I found other people misunderstanding what I myself was saying when I was saying something pointed and direct." In the beginning of 1946 Cage met Gita Sarabhai, a musician from India who came to the United States concerned about the influence of Western music on that of her native country. Sarabhai wanted to spend several months in the US, studying Western music. She took lessons in counterpoint and contemporary music with Cage, who offered to teach her for free if she taught him about Indian music in return. Sarabhai agreed and through her Cage became acquainted with Indian music and philosophy. The purpose of music, according to Sarabhai's teacher in India, was "to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences," and this definition became one of the cornerstones of Cage's view on music and art in general.

At around the same time Cage started studying the writings of an Indian art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Among the ideas that influenced Cage was the description of the Rasa aesthetic and the eight permanent emotions — four white (humor, wonder, the erotic, the heroic (as in "accepting one's experience", in Cage's words)), four black (anger, fear, disgust, sorrow) — and their common tendency towards tranquility. Cage never specified which of the pieces related to which emotions, or whether there exists such direct correspondence between them. He mentioned, though, that the "pieces with bell-like sounds suggest Europe and others with a drum-like resonance suggest the East." Cage has also stated that the last sonata of the cycle, number 16, is "clearly European. It was the signature of a composer from the West."

Cage started working on the cycle in February 1946, while living in New York City. The idea of a collection of short pieces was apparently suggested by a remark made by the poet Edwin Denby, who said that short pieces "can have in them just as much as long pieces can." The choice of materials and the technique of piano preparation in Sonatas and Interludes were largely dependent on improvisation: Cage later wrote that the cycle was composed "by playing the piano, listening to differences [and] making a choice." On several accounts he offered a poetic metaphor for this process, comparing it with collecting shells while walking along a beach. The work on the project was interrupted in early 1947, when Cage made a break to compose The Seasons, a ballet in one act which too was inspired by ideas from Indian philosophy. Immediately after The Seasons Cage returned to Sonatas and Interludes, and by March 1948 the collection was completed.

Cage dedicated Sonatas and Interludes to Maro Ajemian, a pianist and friend. Ajemian performed the work many times since 1949, including one of the first performances of the complete cycle on 12 January, 1949 in Carnegie Hall. On many other occasions in late 1940s and early 1950s Cage performed the piece himself. Although critical reaction was not uniform, it was mostly positive, and the success of Sonatas and Interludes led to a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation, which Cage received in 1949 and which allowed him to make a six-month trip to Europe. During that time he met Olivier Messiaen, who helped organize a performance of the work for his students in Paris on 7 June 1949, and befriended Pierre Boulez, who became an early admirer of the work and wrote a lecture about it for the 17 June 1949 performance at the salon of Suzanne Tézenas, Paris. While still living in Paris, Cage began writing String Quartet in Four Parts, yet another work influenced by Indian philosophy.

Analysis

Piano preparation

In the text accompanying the first recording of Sonatas and Interludes Cage specifically stated that the use of preparations is not a criticism of the instrument, but a simple practical measure. Cage started composing for prepared piano in 1940, when he wrote a piece called Bacchanale for a dance by Syvilla Fort, and by 1946 had already composed a large number of works for the instrument. However, in Sonatas and Interludes the preparation of the piano is very complex, more so than in any of the earlier pieces. Fourty-five notes are prepared, mostly using screws and various types of bolts, but also with 15 pieces of rubber, 4 pieces of plastic, several nuts and one eraser. It takes about two or three hours to prepare a piano for performance. Despite the detailed instruction, any preparation is bound to be different from any other, and Cage himself suggested that there is no strict plan to which to adhere: "[...] if you enjoy playing the Sonatas and Interludes then do it so that it seems right to you."

For the most part Cage avoids using lower registers of the piano, and much of the music's melodic foreground lies in the soprano range. Of the 45 prepared notes only three belong to the three lowest octaves below F#3: D3, D2 and D1. Furthermore, D2 is prepared in such a way that the resulting sound has the frequency of a D4 (resulting in two variants of D4 available, one more prepared than the other.) The portion of the keyboard above F#3 is divided into roughly three areas: the low, the middle and the high registers, of which the former is the most heavily prepared and the latter has the lightest preparation. Different methods are used: certain notes produce sounds that retain the original frequency and much of the pianistic character of the sound, others become drum-like sounds, detuned versions of the original notes or metallic, rattling sounds that have no sense of the fundamental frequency at all. The use of the soft pedal, which makes the hammers strike only two of the three strings of each note, complicates the matter further. For example, the note C5 is a metallic sound with no fundamental discernible when the soft pedal is depressed, but sounds fairly normal if the pedal is released. It appears that Cage was fully aware of the implications of this: certain sonatas feature interplay between two versions of one note, others place special emphasis on particular notes, still others are very dependent on particular note combinations, etc.

Structure

The cycle comprises 16 sonatas and 4 interludes, arranged symmetrically. Four groups of four sonatas each are separated by interludes in the following way:

Sonatas I–IV — Interlude 1 — Sonatas V–VIII — Interlude 2, Interlude 3 — Sonatas IX–XII — Interlude 4 — Sonatas XIII–XVI

The sonatas have very little to do with the standard definition of the sonata form (there are no primary or secondary themes, development sections, recapitulation, etc.) But on the simplest level most of them adhere to the structure of the old sonata model (found, for example, in the works of Domenico Scarlatti) in that they, too, consist of two repeated sections, and their structure is AABB. The only exceptions are sonatas 9-11, which feature three sections: prelude, interlude and postlude. Sonatas 14-15 follow the AABB scheme but are paired and given a separate title "Gemini - after the work of Richard Lippold", referring to a sculpture by Lippold. The interludes, on the other hand, do not have a unifying scheme. The first two are free-form movements, whereas interludes 3 and 4 have a four-section structure with repeats for each section.

Forms and structural proportions in Sonatas and Interludes

Piece	Form	Proportions	Unit size (bars)
Sonata I	AABB	1¼, ¾, 1¼, ¾, 1½, 1½	7
Sonata II	AABB	1½, 1½, 2⅜, 2⅜	7¾
Sonata III	AABB	1, 1, 3¼, 3¼	8½
Sonata IV	AABB	3, 3, 2, 2	10
Interlude I	N/A (no repeats)	1½, 1½, 2, 1½, 1½, 2	10
Sonata V	AABB	2, 2, 2½, 2½	9
Sonata VI	AABB	2⅔, 2⅔, ⅓, ⅓	6
Sonata VII	AABB	2, 2, 1, 1	6
Sonata VIII	AABB	2, 2, 1½, 1½	7
Interlude II	N/A (no repeats)	N/A (unclear)	8
Interlude III	AABBCCDD	1¼, 1¼, 1, 1, ¼, ¼, ½, ½	7
Sonata IX	ABBCC	1, 2, 2, 1½, 1½	8
Sonata X	AABBC	1, 1, 1, 1, 2	6
Sonata XI	AABCC	2, 2, 3, 1½, 1½	10
Sonata XII	AABB	2, 2, 2½, 2½	9
Interlude IV	AABBCCDD	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1¼, 1¼	8½
Sonata XIII	AABB	1½, 1½, 3½, 3½	10
Sonata XIV	AABB	2, 2, 3, 3	10
Sonata XV	AABB	2, 2, 3, 3	10
Sonata XVI	AABB	3½, 3½, 1½, 1½	10

The main technique Cage used for composition is that of nested proportions: an arbitrary sequence of numbers defines the structure of a piece on both macro- and microscopic level, so that the larger parts of each work are in the same relation to the whole as the smaller parts are to a single unit of it. For instance, the proportion for Sonata III is 1, 1, 3¼, 3¼ (in whole notes), and a unit here is equal to 8½ bars. The structure of the piece is AABB, units are separated by a double bar. The first section, A, consists of a single unit, the music in which is composed according to the given proportion (corellation on the microscopic level). This section is repeated twice, and, as it consists of a single unit, AA forms first part of the proportion on the macroscopic level: 1, 1 (units). The second section, B, consists of three units and an appendix of ¼ of a unit. Since this section is also repeated, this results in the second half of the proportion: BB equals to 3¼, 3¼ (units). Therefore AABB = 1, 1, 3¼, 3¼ (corellation on the macroscopic level), and the musical phrases in each unit are also governed by the same proportion. This kind of effect is achieved by using asymmetric musical phrases and somewhat frequent changes of time signature: unit length of 8½ in the first section of Sonata III, for example, is achieved by using six bars in 2/2 time and two in 5/4 (rather than eight bars in 2/2 and one in 1/2). Frequently, however, the microstructure – how the melodic lines are constructed – deviates slightly from the pre-defined proportion. The adherence of the last four sonatas to the 10-bar unit was explained by Cage as an expression of tranquility.

Although Cage has frequently used the technique and its variations before, in Sonatas and Interludes the proportions are more complex, partly because fractions are used. In his 1949 lecture on Sonatas and Interludes Pierre Boulez specifically emphasized the connection between the tradition and the innovation in Sonatas and Interludes: "[...] the structure of these sonatas brings together a pre-Classical structure and a rhythmic structure which belong to two entirely different worlds." The work was also one of the last to use this technique: in early 1951 Cage will switch to using chance operations and the I Ching.

Editions

• Edition Peters 6755. (c) 1960 by Henmar Press. Presents the original score in Cage's calligraphic notation and the table of preparations.

Recordings

Sonatas and Interludes has been recorded many times, both in its complete form and in parts. This list is organized chronologically and presents only the complete recordings. Years when the work was recorded are given. Catalogue numbers are indicated for the latest available CD versions. For the complete discography with reissues and partial recordings listed, see the link to the John Cage database below.

• Maro Ajemian - 1950, Composers Recordings Inc. CRI 700, él records ACMEM88CD [6]
• Yuji Takahashi:
  • 1965, Fylkingen Records FYCD 1010 (mono) [7]
  • 1975, Denon COCO 70757 (stereo, digital)
• John Damgaard - 1971, Membran Quadromania 222190-444 (4CD, incl. many other works)
• John Tilbury - 1974, Explore Records EXP0004 [8]
• Joshua Pierce:
  • 1975, Wergo WER 60156-50 [9]
  • 1988, Newport Classics NPD 85526
  • 1999, ants records AG 06 (2CD, live recording)
  • 2000, SoLyd Records SLR 0303 (live recording)
• Gérard Frémy - 1980, Pianovox PIA 521-2, Ogam Records 488004-2, Etcetera Records KTC 2001
• Nada Kolundzija - c. 1981, Diskos LPD-930 (2LP) [10]
• Darryl Rosenberg - c. 1986, VQR Digital VQR 2001 (LP)
• Mario Bertoncini - 1991, released 2001 as Edition RZ 20001 (Parallele 20001) [11]
• Nigel Butterley - 1992, Tall Poppies TP025 [12]
• Herbert Henck - 1993, ECM New Series 1842 [13] (2CD, incl. Henck's Festeburger Fantasien)
• Giancarlo Cardini - 1994, Materiali Sonori 90115 [14]
• Louis Goldstein - 1994, Greensye Music 4794 (incl. Dream)
• Philipp Vandré - 1994, Mode 50 [15]
• Julie Steinberg - 1995, Music & Arts 937 [16]
• Markus Hinterhäuser - 1996, Col Legno WWE 1CD 20001 [17]
• Steffen Schleiermacher - 1996, MDG 613 0781-2 [18] (3CD, part of John Cage: Complete Piano Works 18CD series)
• Aleck Karis - 1997, Bridge 9081 A/B [19] (2CD, incl. Cage's lecture Composition in Retrospect)
• Jean Pierre Dupuy - 1997, Stradivarius 33422
• Boris Berman - 1998, Naxos 8.559042 [20] or Naxos 8.554345 [21]
• Joanna MacGregor - 1998, SoundCircus SC 003 [22]
• Kumi Wakao - 1999, Mesostics MESCD-0011 [23]
• Tim Ovens - c. 2002, CordAria CACD 566 (incl. a multimedia CD)
• Margaret Leng Tan - 2003, Mode 158 [24] (CD and DVD, incl. many other works and several documentaries)
• Nora Skuta - 2004, Hevhetia Records HV 0011-2-131 [25] (SACD)
• Giancarlo Simonacci - 2005, Brilliant Classics 8189 (3CD, part of Complete Music for Prepared Piano)

See also

• List of compositions by John Cage
• String Quartet in Four Parts
• The Seasons
• Makrokosmos

References and further reading

Books

• John Cage. Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan Paperback, 1973 (first edition 1961). ISBN 0-8195-6028-6
• Richard Kostelanetz. Conversing with John Cage, Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-93792-2
• James Pritchett, Laura Kuhn. "John Cage", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy, grovemusic.com (subscription access).
• David Nicholls. The Cambridge Companion to John Cage. Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0521789680
• James Pritchett. The Music of John Cage. Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 0521565448

Dissertations and articles

• Gregory Jay Clough. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-48) by John Cage: An Analytical Basis for Interpretation. MM University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1968.
• E.S. Baumgartner. Sonatas and Interludes, by John Cage: A Structural Analysis. Mills College, 1994.
• Jeffrey Perry. Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano: Performance, Hearing and Analysis. Published in Music Theory Spectrum, Spring 2005, Vol. 27, No. 1, p. 35-66.

External links

• Sonatas & Interludes at the John Cage database
• John Cage Revision Notes: Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano, a technical essay on the work
• James Pritchett: "Six views of the Sonatas and interludes"