5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lesser known works of the great John Cage, July 14, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: 13 Harmonies (Audio CD)
This is a fabulous album, containing some wonderful pieces by avant-garde composer, John Cage. The works by Cage are particularly interesting, in that Cage is not working in his usual percussion driving format. By using the viola as the dominant voice and piano as accompiniment, Cage forces himself to work with harmony and melody--very unusal elements for Cage compositions.
My understanding of how Cage wrote it was through subtraction. The names of each piece are dirived from other compositions and composers, whose works Cage took and subtracted music from. What Cage didn't subtract became the new score, Cage's new compositions.
This method allows Cage to introduce into works in which he plays with the unfamiliar (for Cage) elements of melody and harmony something he is quite familiar with: silence.
The results are fantastic. I only refrain from giving this album a full 5 stars because Cage's works aren't for everyone, but anyone interested in 20th century, avant-garde "classical" works, this album is a necessity.
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