Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Lowell Cross <>]

On Feb 4, 2011, at 3:18 PM, Louis Goldstein wrote:

What Bartok composition was it? 

On 2/4/2011 4:03 PM, Richard Leigh wrote:

In the excellent "Bartok and His World" (ed Peter Laki) there's a reference to (and a quotation from) a concert review by Cage, in Modern Music 19 (1942) in which he praises a Bartok composition which most critics treated with contempt. Does anyone know whether Cage's reviews have been republished? It looks as if they could be of great interest.

Richard Leigh

Peter Laki quotes Cage:  "The Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano by Bartok was good to hear.  In this work ideas seem to be suggested but never grasped, every moment passes just as one begins to realize its presence.  It makes for dreams and visions."  Modern Music 19 (1942), 260.

This quote is in Tibor Tallián's chapter "Bartók's Reception in America, 1940-1945," translated by Peter Laki, p. 118, footnote 43. 

Lowell Cross

Professor of Music, Emeritus

The University of Iowa

http://www.LowellCross.com

http://composers21.com/compdocs/crossl.htm