Track Listings (17) - Disc #1| All Artists: John [1] Cage, Boris Berman Title: John Cage: Music for Prepared Piano, Vol. 2 Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Naxos American Release Date: 3/20/2001 Genres: Dance & Electronic, Classical Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Short Forms, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Instruments, Keyboard Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 636943907023 |
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Search - John [1] Cage, Boris Berman :: John Cage: Music for Prepared Piano, Vol. 2
 | John [1] Cage, Boris Berman John Cage: Music for Prepared Piano, Vol. 2 Genres: Dance & Electronic, Classical
John Cage abdicated his role as composer around 1950 to become a bystander as random sounds went by. Before that, he wrote some of the most fascinating music produced in America. Some of Cage's best early music was written... more » |
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Amazon.com John Cage abdicated his role as composer around 1950 to become a bystander as random sounds went by. Before that, he wrote some of the most fascinating music produced in America. Some of Cage's best early music was written for percussion ensembles. When the limited space at a dance performance forced him to become an inventor, he thought up a one-man percussion ensemble: the "prepared piano," a standard piano altered by clamping objects onto the strings. The music on this disc covers a wide range of moods and temperament, from the ghostly "Daughters of the Lonesome Isle" to the aggressive "And the Earth Shall Bear Again." Most of the pieces are imaginative enough to stand up to repeated listening. Boris Berman, a Russian-born pianist who now runs Yale's piano department, is better known for playing music like Scriabin and Prokofiev. But he seems completely in command of this radical idiom, with only a bit of rushing here and there keeping him from perfection. With its vivid sound and fascinating repertoire, this disc is another notable Naxos bargain. --Leslie Gerber Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsBerman's Cage zaphod_4964 | Mexico | 05/08/2001 (4 out of 5 stars) "My only complain comes from his choice of tempo for a piece such as "Music For Marcel Duchamp", which is the fastest i've ever heard (at 5'06 aprox)and lacks the mesmeric atmosphere that got me hooked on it the first time I listened to it." Thank You, Naxos! Shota Hanai | Torrance, CA | 01/19/2006 (5 out of 5 stars) "The term "John Cage" seems to haunt my mind as long as I live. He certainly was one of the most controversial American composers during his days; he was the key figure to introduce "chance" and the "prepared piano" - by placing different small objects on the strings, the instrument produces various timbre, thus creating sort of a one-man percussion ensemble! "4:33" is the first piece I knew by Cage, and I did listen to bits and pieces from radios and such, but I didn't have a single CD to own and have myself fully introduced to Cage's radical music. Plus, all this avant-garde albums are incredibly hard to find in high-profile Classical labels including Deustche Grammophon and Sony. That's when I relied on Naxos, which currently holds one of the largest arrays of Classical music. And sure enough, I immediately bought what I needed; the first two Cage CDs released, performed by Russian pianist Boris Berman - the first one featuring "Sonatas and Interludes" for prepared piano, and this album. At a budget price, there is only little risk out of my wallet. So thank you, Naxos! Now I can listen to Cage's music wherever I can. Of the two albums, I like this one better, because it features (except for the brief cycle "The Perilous Night") different separate pieces, each with distinct "preparations", moods, and colors the instrument can produce with all those objects inside. My favorite are "Tossed as it is Untroubled" and "Music for Marcel Duchamp", both with a foreign folk-like quality. I also like the extravagant "Mysterious Adventure" and the percussive "Primitive". Another particularly bizarre work is "Root of an Unfocus". There are some relatively calm pieces too, including "The Unavailable Memory of", "A Room", and "Prelude for Meditation". A great CD for other people new with John Cage's music, but a good CD for Cage fans and experts too." Uncaged Robert E. Finley | Palm Springs, CA USA | 06/12/2004 (5 out of 5 stars) "Try this album, patiently listening all the way through, and I think you will want immediately to play it again. Cranky music, perhaps, but absolutely fascinating. Cage was a grand experimenter, and here he even reconstructs a piano to achieve just the exact sonorities he wants, brilliantly played by Boris Berman. Haunting music, like nothing heard before. Bob Finley"
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