[CAUT] John Cage, "The Earth Shall Bear Again"

[Fred Sturm]

On Oct 20, 2005, at 12:30 PM, Jeff Tanner wrote:
>
> Yes, this piece specifies distance from dampers to within 1/16",  
> like you say.  But oddly, given such precise measurements, I don't  
> understand why he didn't go ahead and specify what size screws?   
> exactly what he meant by "piece of plastic", "large piece of  
> bamboo", and "two thicknesses of woolen material"?

The woolen material is that stuff that used to be used for weather  
stripping: about 1/8" thick  by about 3/4" wide I'm thinking, that  
grey stuff with threads of other colors, made from used fibers. It's  
fairly course, so muting felt is not a great substitute. Maybe some  
of that dense, hard understring felt or the like. I agree with you in  
being frustrated by his lack of detail in saying "screw," "bolt,"  
etc. Sometimes you have to use your best guess. Eg, "bamboo" would  
have to be of a size to actually fit between  the strings specified.  
Plastic would be something available in the 40's (or 30's to 50's, or  
whenever the piece was composed) - meaning probably something hard. I  
don't think there were any soft plastics readily available then (I  
could well be wrong). The Well-Prepared Piano will have more and  
better details. I looked through a copy once, but haven't had access  
for a long time.
>
> His genius has been touted, yet he didn't have the foresight to  
> consider what effects would be brought about by performing on  
> larger or smaller instruments (or instruments with a strut in the  
> way).

Yes, the strut in the way is a big issue with all "inside the piano"  
work. I think most musicians - composers of this ilk - just never  
paid enough attention to know there was a significant difference  
between models. The up side to this is that a very, very good  
argument can be made for the position that a D (or other concert  
size) is not appropriate for this kind of music - it doesn't meet the  
needs of the performer or fulfill the intent of the composer. This is  
the kind of argument that resonates with the general faculty, more  
than the "pianos should only be played using the keys" or "keep those  
durned screws out of my piano" type argument.
>
> Is there enough scale difference between an O and an L to make his  
> measurements incorrect for an L?
> Jeff

An L would be better than a D, for sure. It would depend how  
precisely you were measuring. In the end, you would adjust the  
precise position by experiment anyway, shifting a wee bit in each  
direction and listening. (What exactly are you listening for? That's  
a good question <g>. Whatever sounds "best" - maybe most pronounced).  
If your student has an L available for practice purposes (or at least  
for experiment), the sounds could be used as a basis for deciding  
where to place things in a D.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm@unm.edu
  "Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to  
shape it."
Bertolt Brecht