Three, Twenty-Eight, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Seven [Limited Edition]

John Cage (Composer), Prague Winds (Orchestra), Christina Fong (Performer), Susanna Borsch (Performer), Karen Krummel (Performer), Michael Crawford (Performer), Glenn Freeman (Performer), Jiri Marsalek (Performer), Zdenek Rys (Performer), Libor Soukal (Performer), Petr Donek (Performer), Frantisek Pok (Performer), Frantisek Bilek (Performer), Lukas Cermak (Performer), Lubomir Maryska (Performer) | Format: DVD Audio

Product Details

• Performer: Christina Fong, Susanna Borsch, Karen Krummel, Michael Crawford, Glenn Freeman, et al.
• Orchestra: Prague Winds
• Composer: John Cage
• DVD Audio (January 1, 2007)
• Please Note: This is a DVD-Audio disc which is playable on most DVD players as well as all DVD-Audio players. Click here for additional information regarding compatibility.
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: OgreOgress productions
• ASIN: B001582D06
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,409 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

With his fame at its height and the commissions coming in at an astonishing rate, the composer developed a new means of notation (the 'time frame') and a not-completely-unrelated titling system (the pieces are titled after the number of performers required to play them, with superscript numbers to designate works requiring an already-used number of players) to respond to the stream of commissions.

With these pieces, the master became the student. The soundworld of Cage's number pieces bears the unmistakable stamp of Morton Feldman's influence. They are quiet and slow, with lots of white space (silence). Unlike Feldman, Cage is not interested in patterns and their repetition - Cage's quiet is in that way very different from Feldman's.

This OgreOgress audio-DVD (96kHz|24bit) of several of Cage's number pieces for winds stands as a great introduction to this important body of music and a wonderful musical experience.

Three is scored for three recorder players, playing a large number of recorders. Susanna Borsch plays all three parts in this recording. All of these pieces require a steady tone and rigorous intonation, and Ms. Borsch has both to spare, as do all of the performers on the program. Three is cast in sections: a first and last section required, and any (or none) of eight three-minute segments that may be played between them. In this recording the listener is invited to make that decision, potentially resulting a different piece every time one listens to it.

The other three pieces on the program, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Six with Twenty-Eight, and Twenty-Eight with Twenty-Nine illustrate another aspect of Cage's musical world-view, one that is seen throughout his career - the combining of different pieces to make a new musical experience. (He also occasionally sanctioned the separate performance of parts of larger pieces, such as the orchestral parts of the Concert for Piano and Orchestra.) These larger pieces are still quiet and built of long tones, but the result is a teeming, democratic quietude that is as compelling as the more empty spaces of the smaller ensemble and solo number pieces.

The performances here are all that you could ask for. The intonation and even tones are mesmerizing, and the subtly changing chords and textures that result when players enter and exit make for a novel kind of musical narrative. The high-resolution sound puts you in the middle of the music, which seems especially apt given Cage's aesthetic. This is a must-have DVD.

Finally, this disc is one of several that should put to rest the argument about Cage - he is a profound philosopher and an 'inventor of genius', but he was also a great composer. --Steve Hicken, Sequenza21, November 8th, 2008

Product Description

Thirteenth in a series with previously unreleased works by well-known composers, this 122-minute 96kHz|24bit Audio DVD features the world premiere recordings of John Cage's Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Six with Twenty-Eight and Twenty-Eight with Twenty-Nine.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars continue this work !, September 18, 2008

By 

Le Gall Pascal (TOURS, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three, Twenty-Eight, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Seven (DVD Audio)

The John Cage's number pieces are one of the most important musical compositions of the XXth century. But nobody (and specially in Europe !) knows them. This work (recording number pieces) is a great work for the Music. Wonderful !