John Cage and the 'Concert for piano and orchestra'

约翰·凯奇的《钢琴和管弦乐队协奏曲》被广泛认为是一部开创性的作品，不仅是凯奇自己的作品，而且是20世纪音乐和技术的背景下的作品。从夸张的符号，特别是钢琴部分，以及器乐部分(单簧管部分装饰在普里切特1993年的重要调查《约翰·凯奇的音乐》的封面上)的例子装饰了20世纪和实验音乐的大多数研究(迈克尔·尼曼的《实验音乐》和保罗·格里菲斯的《现代音乐及其以后：1945年以来的方向》第二版的封面就是两个这样的例子)。自从贾斯珀·约翰斯和罗伯特·劳申贝格组织了一场展览来配合作品的首次演出(他们组织了这场展览)以来，与凯奇相关的图形乐谱、美国实验作品和其他主题的展览经常包括钢琴部分的页面，为钢琴而作的独奏曲。除了在记法上的创新，形式上--作为一组没有乐谱的部分，可以以任何组合和关系演奏，包括与其他作品--它将开放形式和开放作品的概念推向了比20世纪任何早期作曲家的任何早期作品都要大得多的程度。然而，这部作品及其符号的许多复杂性、模棱两可和挑战很少被详细讨论。对于一部经常被引用为里程碑式作品的作品来说，表演仍然相对罕见。根据这一证据和其他轶事证据，这场音乐会似乎被认为在20世纪音乐史上具有非常重要的意义，但如何理解和表演它仍然是一个谜。这个项目的目的是在各个方面揭开这部作品的神秘面纱：显著提高人们对这部作品的看法和理解，并为未来的表演者提供洞察力和一系列可能性。这项研究的中心调查有三个领域：1.历史背景凯奇从20世纪50年代到20世纪60年代的作品的组成背景将为讨论这部作品提供信息，而许多原始研究将通过采访和对档案材料的审查来进行，以呈现生产、表演和接受史的近距离阅读。2.分析讨论尽管《钢琴与管弦乐队协奏会》臭名昭著，但由于它的历史和音乐意义，关于音乐本身、它如何发挥作用以及它对演奏的影响的详细讨论令人惊讶地很少。讨论往往集中在乐谱的表面特征上，然后主要涉及钢琴部分。这项拟议的研究对整个作品采取了一种独特而全面的方法，仔细检查和分类了器乐部分、声名狼藉的指挥家部分以及钢琴部分中的所有不同符号。性能问题研究的一个重要部分是展望未来的性能，为对整个作品及其不同类别的新解释提供信息和建议。为了实现这一点，将表演者和表演整合到项目中是至关重要的。与过去的表演有关的广泛的录音和其他文件将被查阅和仔细检查。对绩效问题的调查结果将在本书中详细讨论。此外，互动式网络资源将为解释、个别符号以及结构、密度和连续性问题提供实用指南。它将允许用户塑造新的符号实现，并“玩弄”各种可能性。此外，每个部分的专业录音将特别制作并通过网站提供，这将允许听众以模块化的方式与不同的部分进行互动和不同的组合。

The 'Concert for piano and orchestra' by John Cage is widely regarded as a seminal work, not just within Cage's own output but in the context of twentieth century music and techniques. Examples from the extravagant notations, particularly of the piano part, but also the instrumental parts (the clarinet part adorns the cover of Pritchett's important 1993 survey The Music of John Cage) decorate most studies of 20th century and experimental music (the front covers of the second editions of both Michael Nyman's Experimental Music and Paul Griffiths' Modern Music and After: Directions since 1945 are two such examples). Ever since Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg organised an exhibition to run alongside the first performance of the work (which they organised), exhibitions of graphic scores, American experimental work, and other themes associated with Cage regularly include pages from the piano part, the Solo for piano. As well as the innovations in notations, formally - as a set of parts without score, to be performed in any combination and relationship, including with other works - it throws open the notion of open form and the open work to a far greater degree than any earlier work by any twentieth century composer. Yet the many complexities, ambiguities and challenges of the work and its notations are rarely discussed in detail. Performances are still relatively uncommon for a work which is regularly cited as being a landmark. On this and other anecdotal evidence it would appear that the 'Concert' is recognised as being of great importance to the history of twentieth century music but how it might be understood and performed remains a puzzle. It is the purpose of this project to demystify the work in all aspects: to significantly advance how the work is viewed and understood and to provide insights and a range of possibilities to future performers.There are three areas of investigation central to the study:1. Historical contextThe compositional context of Cage's works through the 1950s, as well as the works leading from the 'Concert' into the 1960s will inform discussion of the work, whilst much of the original research will be conducted through interviews and examination of archival material to present close readings of the production, performance and reception histories. 2. Analytical discussionDespite the notoriety of the 'Concert for piano and orchestra', for its both historical and musical significance, there is surprisingly little detailed discussion about the music itself, how it functions, and its implications for performance. Discussion tends to focus upon surface features of the notation and then primarily relating to the piano part. This proposed study takes an unique and comprehensive approach to the work as a whole, closely examining and cataloguing all the different notations in the instrumental parts, the infamous conductor's part, as well as the piano part.3. Performance issuesAn important part of the study is to look to future performances, providing information and suggestions for fresh interpretations of the work as a whole and in its various groupings. In order to achieve this it is vital to integrate performers and performances into the project. A wide range of recordings and other documentation relating to performances from the past will be accessed and examined closely. The findings resulting from the investigation into performance issues will be discussed at length in the book. Furthermore, an interactive web resource will offer practical guides to interpretation, of individual notations and to matters of structure, density and continuity. It will allow users to shape new realisations of notations and to 'play' with possibilities. Additionally, professional recordings of each part will be specially made and available through the web-site which will allow for listeners to interact with and variously combine the different parts in modular fashion.