''The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs'' is a song for voice and closed piano by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

. It was composed in late 1942 and quickly became a minor classic in Cage's oeuvre. The text was a reworked version of a passage from

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's '' Finnegans Wake''.

General information

The song was commissioned by singer Janet Fairbank, who later became known for pioneering contemporary music. Cage chose to set a passage from page 556 of ''Finnegans Wake'', a book he bought soon after its publication in 1939. The composition is based, according to Cage himself, on the impressions received from the passage.John Cage. Liner notes to ''The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage'' (1959), private issue recording by George Avakian (K08Y 1499–1504) ''The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs'' marks the start of Cage's interest in Joyce and is the first piece among many in which he uses the writer's work. The vocal line only uses three pitches, while the piano remains closed and the pianist produces sounds by hitting the lid or other parts of the instrument in a variety of ways (with his fingers, with his knuckles, etc.). Almost immediately after its composition the song became one of Cage's most frequently performed works, and was several times performed by the celebrated duo of Cathy Berberian and

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

. Cage later composed another piece for voice and closed piano, ''

A Flower ''A Flower'' is a song for voice and closed piano by John Cage. It was composed in 1950, for a choreography by Louise Lippold, wife of sculptor Richard Lippold. There is no text; the singer vocalises a small number of phonemes such as "uh", "wah", ...

'', and a companion piece to ''The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs'', called ''

Nowth upon Nacht ''Nowth upon Nacht'' is a song for voice and piano by John Cage. It was composed in 1984 in memoriam for Cathy Berberian, the celebrated soprano singer, wife of composer Luciano Berio. The text is from page 555–6 of James Joyce's ''Finnegans Wa ...

'', also based on Joyce's book. In 1976,

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

performed a version on the split LP ''

Voices and Instruments ''Voices and Instruments'' is a 1976 album by Saxophone, saxophonist Jan Steele and composer John Cage. The album was the fifth release on Brian Eno's Obscure Records. This release had the catalogue number ''Obscure no.5''. In common with most of ...

'' attributed to

Jan Steele Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

and John Cage, produced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and released on his Obscure Records label. In 1993, Joey Ramone performed a version on the compilation ''Caged/Uncaged – A Rock/Experimental Homage To John Cage''.

Editions

References

External links

Original score: ''The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs, for voice and piano''
New York, 1942. Moldenhauer Archives of The Library of Congress.

includes the song's text and a comparison to the original passage.

on

UbuWeb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Philosop ...

. 1942 compositions Compositions by John Cage Finnegans Wake {{classical-composition-stub

General information

Editions

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References

External links