[silence] Cage and Recordings

[Daniel Wolf]

Just one, possibly relevant, note about Cage and recordings: in his 
catalog, there is one substantial category of work which is basically 
empty. And that is music for private use. Although many of his pieces 
are useful in private, in particularly informal performances at home, or 
as pedagogical works, one can say as a rule that Cage wrote for public 
performances. A recording, if we are to take the medium seriously, and I 
believe that Cage did take the medium seriously, is generally intended 
for private audition and for Cage, private audition with or without 
loudspeakers was an experience substantially different from public 
audition. Cage did use recorded media in many of his public works, often 
finding interesting solutions to the usual limitations of a recorded 
artifact, and in the unique case of the Nonesuch recording of HPSCHD, 
each copy of which included a unique print-out of chance-derived 
performance instructions (controlling volume, balance, and bass/treble 
controls),  Cage and Hiller found a solution that works particularly 
well in a private environment.

Daniel Wolf