Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Mode Admin <>]

Thank you, Tom!

BTW, I sent this email earlier in response to Rob Haskins' comment but it never appeared. Perhaps because I originally included the URL for the Mode release of Feldman's "Cheap Imitation" arrangement? So, here is what I sent earlier, without the URL (please just go to the Mode Records website and you will easily find the release):

Rob is mostly correct about Feldman's arrangement of "Cheap Imitation," which is for piano, flutes and glockenspiel. He made this as a gift to pianist Aki Takahashi, who made the premiere recording of the arrangement (as well as Cage's solo piano version) on Mode 327.

Brian Brandt

On 2/22/23 4:03 PM, Thomas Moore wrote:

For those who haven’t heard the Mode recording of the Feldman arrangement, it’s magical.

Tom Moore

—— Thomas Moore Director, Arts and Culture, UMBC Chair, Advisory Board, Catonsville Arts District 301-807-1369

he/him/his

https://thomasmoore.info/

UMBC was established upon the land of the Piscataway Conoy and Susquehannock peoples. Over time, citizens of many more Indigenous nations have come to reside in this region. We humbly offer our respects to all past, present, and future Indigenous people connected to this place.

On Feb 22, 2023, at 3:45 PM, Mode Admin wrote:

Rob is mostly correct about Feldman's arrangement of "Cheap Imitation," which is for piano, flutes and glockenspiel. He made this as a gift to pianist Aki Takahashi, who made the premiere recording of the arrangement (as well as Cage's solo piano version) on Mode 327:

https://moderecords.com/catalog/the-works-for-piano-11/

Brian Brandt

On 2/22/23 3:24 PM, Rob Haskins wrote:

If memory serves, Zukofsky is referring to a solo violin version of Cheap Imitation, which indeed was concluded. Incidentally, I believe Morton Feldman made an arrangement for glock, piano, and violin? I may be wrong on the instrumentation.

On Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 2:57 PM Sara Haefeli <> wrote:

Check out Paul Zukofsky, "John Cage's Recent Violin Music," in A John Cage Reader: In Celebration of His 70th Birthday, ed. Peter Gena, Jonathan Brent, and Don Gillespie, 101–06. C. F. Peters, 1982.

This book chapter describes the collaborative compositional history of the violin version. I don't remember coming across any evidence that Cage "rejected" the piece. But I may be mistaken!

Sara

Sara Haefeli, Ph.D.

Associate Professor 

School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Whalen Center for Music 2321

Recent Books: Teaching Music History with Cases

           Writing in Music: A Brief Guide, with Lynne Rogers and Karen Bottge

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Music History Pedagogy

 

Ithaca College
953 Danby Rd.  |  Ithaca, NY 14850

(607) 274-1629

"What we have before us are some breathtaking opportunities disguised as insoluble problems."
            ––John W. Gardner

---

From: <> on behalf of Goldstein, Louis <>
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 1:28 PM
Cc: silence <>
Subject: Re: [silence] Cheap Imitation (violin and piano)

 

This message originated from outside the Ithaca College email system.

John - - 

I don't know about this version of Cheap Imitation, but now I'm curious.  Do you know how the violin and piano share the material?  It's a one-line composition - do the instruments alternate phrases or engage in some other kind of alternation?  Play in unison?

louie

On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 12:10 PM John Hails <> wrote:

Dear sigiphiles

I have a question about the violin and piano version of Cheap Imitation.

Paul van Emmerik marks it as 'unfinished (rejected)'.

I'm curious as to how this came to be. I was interested in possibly 'completing' or at least processing it in some fashion so that it is performable, but if Cage rejected it...

Any information will be gratefully consumed

Best wishes

John

--

Rob Haskins, DMA., PhD

Professor and Chair, Department of Music

(he • him • his)

603-862-3987 (voicemail only)

603-862-3155 (fax)

College of Liberal Arts

University of New Hampshire
M-214, Paul Creative Arts Center
30 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824
<https://cola.unh.edu/person/rob-haskins>
<http://robhaskins.net>