Cage’s Music of Changes
Concert

Cage’s Music of Changes

performed by Joseph Kubera
This event was on Thursday, November 1, 2012. Explore the archive below.

Part of Cage: Beyond Silence →

Composed in 1951, Music of Changes was Cages first instrumental composition entirely derived from chance procedures. Cage applied a book of the I Ching, a recent gift from a young Christian Wolff, to various parameters in the music: tempi, dynamics, sounds and silences, durations and superimpositions. The resulting music is one of pointed extremes and dense counterpoint. The piano is played, not only by using the keys, but also by plucking the strings with finger nails, playing cymbal beaters on the strings, and even slamming the keyboard lid. First premiered by David Tudor, a generation later, pianist Joseph Kubera provides an unyielding and complete interpretation of this complex and virtuosic work.

From the archive

Press 9 articles

  • March 29, 2012Art Museum to mark John Cage centennial with 'Dancing Around the Bride'
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    Read
  • April 4, 20129 Philly organizations share $858,000 in music grants
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    Read
  • September 18, 2012Celebrating centenary of John Cage in music and art
    WHYY    Read
  • October 21, 2012Philadelphia festival to celebrate Cage's centennial
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    ReadPDF
  • October 26, 2012Weekly Entertainment Guide – Grimm, Stoker, Poe, and Rocky Horror Show
    WHYY    Read
  • November 2, 2012Weekly Entertainment Guide - First Person Arts, Philly Improv, GEOfest, and '215' festivals
    WHYY    Read
  • November 27, 2012Festival brings life to John Cage's experimental compositions
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    ReadPDF
  • November 27, 2012What to listen to-or not-during Cage festival
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    Read
  • January 22, 2013Relief and enlightenment as Cage celebration ends
    The Philadelphia Inquirer    ReadPDF