This month, Clef Notes has looked at a variety of
music set to dance. Let’s wrap things up with something a bit different than
what we’ve seen so far.
You may remember my previous blog post on John Cage
(1912–1992), an avant-garde and experimental composer of the twentieth century.
He was known to use sounds and ideas that had not previously been used in
music. One concept he became known for was the prepared piano. A prepared piano
is the insertion of objects (pennies, bolts, wood, plastic, etc.) in between
piano strings. The result is a percussive effect that creates various sounds,
depending on the objects inserted, when the pianist plays from the keyboard. The
piano is prepared in advance of the performance with detailed instructions
provided within the score for which objects should be placed between which
strings.
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| Prepared Piano Courtesy of wikimedia.org |
Cage’s Bacchanale
was his first work written for prepared piano. He created it for dancer
Syvilla Fort in 1938. Originally, he wanted to accompany her dance with
percussion, but opted for the prepared piano concept because he was unable to
use many instruments. You can watch this modern dance and piano performance
below. Do you think the piano and dancers balance each other or does one seems
to hold greater importance over the other?
