Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Eric Theise <>]

I dug out the Thom Holmes discography (1981-93) I used to build the New Albion site back in the day and there is a listing that says:

Recording Label: Avakian

Serial #:None–privately issued

Title of Recording: Sonatas & Interludes

Year of Release: 1946

Type of Recording: LP

Currently Available: No

Compositions & Performers: "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano" (1946-48), performed by Maro Ajemian. This non-commercial recording contains an excerpt of the work.

Comments: This is a 7" LP recorded on April 14, 1946 and performed by the woman who's [sic] name became synonymous with Cage's prepared Piano work. Recorded at Town Hall in New York.

The Critics: –

Eric

On Wed, Sep 7, 2022 at 7:44 PM Mode Admin <> wrote:

My understanding is that it is a completely different recording from Ajemian's Dial/CRI recording of the complete Sonatas & Interludes. I actually have it, the record is either a 7" or 10", with works of Hovhaness. I'll find it and report further.

Brian Brandt

On 9/7/22 8:50 PM, Jim Flannery wrote:

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 5:12:33 PM, Eric wrote:

On Wed, Sep 7, 2022 at 4:25 PM Rod Stasick  wrote:

The recording that you’re looking for is apparently the Dial recording
from the early 50s.
Tho, I don’t know how different it is than the CRI and later reissues that
followed for the
next 50+ years on LPs and CDs.

WorldCat tells us that the Glenn G. Bartle Library at SUNY Binghamton (37
miles from Ithaca) has a copy of that LP. Something I read suggested that
the LP has the complete Sonatas and Interludes so I thought Ann might be
referring to an even earlier recording when she says "performances of just
four of the pieces".

The Dial release is the same as the CRI, recorded and released 1951.
See notes on CRI 199: holy crap this is a long url, you may need to cut
and paste in pieces ...

https://i.discogs.com/m9UrTR3HTKVVZExr6aFkyGB5nUpNtzZRzi2CZ6eyqfk/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:591/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk0MjE4/MTQtMTQ4MDI3Njg4/Mi0zMzY2LmpwZWc.jpeg