[silence] Petr Kotik's Umbilical Cord

[Brian Brandt]

Having worked with Cage directly on a number of recordings over 9 years, 
in addition to sitting with him at a couple of festivals of his music, I 
must say that the "oral" tradition of Cage is important. The scores tell 
you just so much. Hearing Cage interact with the performers and shedding 
additional insight tells you much more. Yes, certain performers (eg 
Tudor) would be given carte blanche with the score -- they already 
worked directly with Cage and knew his thinking and preferences. They 
proved themselves and he trusted them. Cage would be very helpful to 
musicians that were trying to execute his scores well. He would have 
little comment (and polite impatience) with musicians that really were 
hopeless or not serious. I think in his later years he resigned himself 
to the fact that his music would sometimes be performed poorly and there 
was no need to try to change a hopeless situation. And, by the way, 
"hopeless" is a verbatim quote: once at a live performance of his 
"Concerto for Prepared Piano" which Mode was recording, he turned to me 
to say that "this is hopeless". So that was the end of that recording -- 
and this is of a written out "early" work!

As for major orchestras performing his works well: yes, the calibre of 
musicianship in younger musicians never ceases to amaze me. And perhaps 
they may (or likely may not) change the orchestra's attitude toward 
works that are not finite in on the page. But, for now, orchestras are 
not ready to just perform Cage's late scores, nor are they ready for 
something like "Atlas Eclipticalis". Most of the orchestra don't want to 
think about the score and make choices. They want to play their gig, 
collect their check and go home. It's a job. The majority won't take 
such scores seriously and the result will be an approximation at best. 
Chamber works are a different matter: you can assemble a group of 
musicians who are keen to interpret these works seriously and correctly. 
Orchestras are a subset of "society". Some members are inquisitive and 
curious, others would simply prefer to have a beer with someone like 
George Bush.

Through anarchy, Cage hoped to see a new and better society. His late 
works are perhaps a roadmap toward that effect. Let's face it, society 
is not ready for anarchy yet -- today it practically has achieved 
anarchy by the collapse of worldwide governmental and financial systems. 
Does the world's response to such "chaos" indicate that it is ready for 
anarchy and for everyone (orchestras included) to be responsible for 
themselves and their actions? I wish Cage were here today so I could ask 
him his opinions of the world's current condition. And please, listen to 
or read his works "Overpopulation and Art" (on mode 130) or "Lecture on 
the Weather"-- Cage's comments and insight from decades ago are wholly 
relevant today. Pure perceptive genius, these texts could have been 
written today.

Regarding the two performances of "103" on the Mode DVD (mode 174): to 
my knowledge, neither was actually conducted. I was not at the recording 
sessions. The orchestras were thoroughly prepared by the conductors 
involved prior to the performance.

Brian Brandt
www.moderecords.com


Glenn Freeman wrote:
>>>> To perform the work? Yes. To perform the work well is another  
>>>> question.
>>>>         
>>> OK, and what authority figure will decide what is well and what is  
>>> not?
>>>       
>> Authority figure?
>>     
>
> who decides what is "well"?
>
>   
>>> I never said irrelevant, I said not required.
>>>       
>> So then you agree that the statements outside the score can have a
>> beneficial effect on performance. How would you revise your previous
>> remarks to make them consistent with this?
>>     
>
> no need to revise.
>
>   
>> Have you heard of the stories of the attempts by major orchestras to
>> perform Cage's works in his presence during his lifetime? You might
>> find them enlightening.
>>     
>
> feel free to provide an oral history of such attempts if you like, but  
> the past is gone.
>
> cage has been dead since 1992. his number pieces for orchestra were  
> all written within 5 years of his death. that is, 6 major orchestral  
> works [not including various re-combinations] i would describe as  
> cage's 6 late symphonies. they all remain unperformed by the major  
> orchestras of our day.
>
> today's orchestras, quite a bit different than the orchestras of the  
> 1960s and 70s (aside from the conductor issue), would encounter no  
> problems performing these symphonies. i soon hope to hear the major  
> orchestras of the world performing Cage's 6 final symphonies on a  
> regular basis.
>
> Glenn Freeman
> OgreOgress productions
> http://ogreogress.com
>
> --
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