John Cage was one of America's most important avant-garde / classical / conceptual composers of the 20th century. The influence of his works such as sonatas and interludes for prepared piano in both jazz and underground popular music (stereolab, broadcast and the like). This vintage recording dates from the early fifties when nothing like it had ever been heard before and is the perfect introduction to Cage. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano is John Cage's magnum opus. This is the first recording of this work, played by the Armenian pianist Maro Ajemian over 50 years ago, when the music was new and shocking. It still is. Cage was very much an International artist in every sense of the word, meaning this album has great export potential from Classical, Jazz and Indie specialist outlets worldwide.

Sonata I / Sonata II / Sonata III / Sonata IV / First Interlude / Sonata V / Sonata VI / Sonata VII / Sonata VIII / Second Interlude / Third Interlude / Sonata IX / Sonata X / Sonata XI / Sonata XII / Fourth Interlude / Sonata XIII / Sonata XIV And XV / Sonata XVI

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Released on 16/08/ 10. Whether one agrees with his ideas or appreciates his art, anyone interested in the culture of the twentieth century, its philosophy, sociology and history, needs to know about John Cage. David Revill. John Cage – The Roaring Silence 1992

The desire to find new sounds and to abandon the traditional role of the composer as a controlling authority were hallmarks of John Cage’s career and made him at once a revered and reviled figure in modern music. Composer, philospher, poet, graphic artist and mycologist (authority on mushrooms), the pioneering Cage used carefully structured segments of time and filled them with sound materials derived by chance processes such as the rolling of a dice or the use of the I Ching. In perhaps the ultimate and most outrageous - statement of the aesthetic, he wrote 4 33, a piece involving total silence on the part of the performer, into which the random sounds of the world enter.

John Cage s legacy extends far beyond the world of contemporary classical music. After him, no one could look at a painting, a book, or a person without wondering how they might sound if you listened closely.

Fontana Mix / First Construction In Metal / Music For Carillon No. 1 / Williams Mix / The City Wears A Slouch Hat / Music Of Changes

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