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Études Boreales
''Etudes Boreales'' is a set of etudes for cello and/or piano composed by John Cage in 1978. The set is a small counterpart to Cage's other etude collections - ''Etudes Australes'' for piano and ''Freeman Etudes'' for violin. ''Etudes Boreales'' were composed for, and dedicated to, the cellist Jack Kirstein (1921-1996) and his wife, the pianist Jeanne Kirstein (1924-1979). The latter performed Cage's piano works in the 1970s, but found ''Etudes Boreales'' unplayable; the first performer to find a way to play the pieces was percussionist Michael Pugliese (Pritchett, 199). The set comprises four pieces. The cello parts are technically similar to ''Freeman Etudes'': they are extremely demanding pieces composed using chance operations, every aspect of the work meticulously detailed in the score. The difference between the works is that in ''Etudes Boreales'' the pitch range is limited at any given time, and changes throughout the pieces, whereas in ''Freeman Etudes'' the range was unli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, scientific pitch notation, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef; the tenor clef and treble clef are used for higher-range passages. Played by a ''List of cellists, cellist'' or ''violoncellist'', it enjoys a large solo repertoire Cello sonata, with and List of solo cello pieces, without accompaniment, as well as numerous cello concerto, concerti. As a solo instrument, the cello uses its whole range, from bass to soprano, and in chamber music, such as string quartets and the orchestra's string section, it often plays the bass part, where it may be reinforced an octave lower by the double basses. Figured bass music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temperament. A musician who specializes in piano is called a pianist. There are two main types of piano: the #Grand, grand piano and the #Upupright piano. The grand piano offers better sound and more precise key control, making it the preferred choice when space and budget allow. The grand piano is also considered a necessity in venues hosting skilled pianists. The upright piano is more commonly used because of its smaller size and lower cost. When a key is depressed, the strings inside are struck by felt-coated wooden hammers. The vibrations are transmitted through a Bridge (instrument), bridge to a Soundboard (music), soundboard that amplifies the sound by Coupling (physics), coupling the Sound, acoustic energy t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives. Cage's teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933–35), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern world, East and South Asia, South Asian cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of Aleatoric music, aleatoric or Indeterminism#Philosophy, chance-controlled music, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etudes Australes
''Etudes Australes'' is a set of etudes for piano solo by John Cage, composed in 1974–75 for Grete Sultan. It comprises 32 indeterminate pieces written using star charts as source material. The etudes, conceived as duets for two independent hands, are extremely difficult to play. They were followed by two more collections of similarly difficult works: '' Freeman Etudes'' for violin (1977–90) and ''Etudes Boreales'' (1978) for cello, or piano, or both together. History of composition Cage wrote ''Etudes Australes'' for pianist and friend Grete Sultan, whom he had known since 1946. When Cage found out that Grete Sultan was working on his ''Music of Changes'', a piece which involved hitting the piano with beaters and hands, he offered to write some new music for her, because to him "it didn't seem ightthat an aging lady should hit the piano" (Sultan turned 68 in 1974). Cage started working in January 1974 and finished the etudes in 1975. The pieces are built on two basic ideas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freeman Etudes
''Freeman Etudes'' are a set of etudes for solo violin composed by John Cage. Like the earlier ''Etudes Australes'' for piano, these works are incredibly complex, nearly impossible to perform, and represented for Cage the "practicality of the impossible" as an answer to the notion that resolving the world's political and social problems is impossible. Details In 1977 Cage was approached by Betty Freeman, who asked him to compose a set of etudes for violinist Paul Zukofsky (who would, at around the same time, also help Cage with work on the violin transcription of ''Cheap Imitation''). Cage decided to model the work on his earlier set of etudes for piano, ''Etudes Australes''. That work was a set of 32 etudes, 4 books of 8 etudes each, and composed using Indeterminacy in music, controlled chance by means of star charts and, as was usual for Cage, the ''I Ching''. Zukofsky asked Cage for music that would be notated in a conventional manner, which he assumed Cage was returning to in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
