John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes - Sonata V

Sonatas and Interludes

Form

• 16 Sonatas in 4 groups 4
• Separated by Interludes
• Very specific, mathematical
• Subdivisions of sections, phrases, bars
• 2/2 Time
• Form of phrase groupings mimics form of work
• Form ties together work

Preparations

• Beginning of score gives very specific instructions to prepare 45 strings
• Materials act as mutes to alter sound quality or nearly silence notes
• Varied effect caused by slight differences in placement
• Piece does not employ mainly harmony, but rather timbre and rhythm - highly percussive

Unifying features: clear, simple structure; repeating chromatic melody; unique feeling prepared piano gives listener

Tonality: not clearly major or minor

Timbre: metallic, like gamelan it imitates

Texture: polyphonic, as both hands make unrelated movements

Dynamics: gradual build to the B section with obscured pulses, final notes seem to fade into nothing

Other Elements

• Highly structured: binary with repeated sections, AABB

B Section

Form

• 22.5 measures, grouped 4, 5, 4, 5, 4.5
• First portion broken up by rests
• Second half quicker, disjunct, introduces shifting accents that obscure pulse
• Element of sustained dissonance

A Section

• 18 measures, grouped 4, 5, 4, 5
• Two-voice texture in irregular meter
• Both hands play equal roles
• Right: conjunct melody consisting mainly of quarters
• Left: chromatic pattern of 16ths within limited range of notes
• In last 9 measures, focus shifts away from right hand, which plays a series of tied whole notes

Who was John Cage?

Other Areas of Interest

• Later on, he played with probability
• Throwing dice and flipping coins
• Concept of indeterminacy
• Also wrote 4’33”
• Playing with idea of the importance of silence as part of music

The Prepared Piano

• 1912 – 1992
• Born in L.A.
• Attended Pomona College, left to travel Europe
• Interested in Non-Western scales – learned from mentor Henry Cowell
• Also student of Arnold Shoenberg – explored 5-tone rows
• Decided he wanted to work on advancements in rhythm, not pitch – percussion was key
• Avant-garde compositional style

• Invented “prepared piano” in 1938 – nails, bolts, nuts, screws, bits of rubber, wood and leather between the strings of a regular piano
• Sounded like a Javanese gamelan – combination of percussion, strings and voice all produced with a piano
• Very oriental and meditative
• Composed lots of works for prepared piano, including set of Sonatas and Interludes

Sonata V

• Written in 1946, first performed in 1949
• Dedicated to Maro Ajemian, who premiered it at Carnegie Hall
• Very unlike other piano pieces
• Score written on staff; means not what to hear, but rather what to play
• Very short - only 1.5 minutes
• Genre: Sonata
• What are usually considered main elements of music were not Cage’s main focus

John Cage

Thoughts and Aims

• Music was expanding to include things less musical than ever before
• “The use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the aid of electrical instruments, which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard”
• Wanted music to include noise – stretching the boundaries of music

Sonatas and Interludes

Sonata V

Emma Lawrence

Bibliography

• "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano." Classical Archives. Classical Archives LLC, 2012. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/78796.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about>.
• Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. Study guide for The enjoyment of music, ninth edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. Print.

Photos

• http://www.artinfo.com/sites/default/files/20120905johncage-promo1.2.png
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