We'll take a little leap today and find ourselves in some very unique and fascinating sound worlds, with three short pieces by John Cage, Delia Derbyshire, and Igor Stravinsky.
During the years 1946, 1947 and 1948 John Cage composed his Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, a cycle of twenty pieces to be performed on a piano "prepared" with various alterations to the strings and soundboard. These alterations create a sound world far removed from the one we normally expect to hear from a standard grand piano. Cage composed these works shortly after his introduction to two of the major influences that would change his approach to musical composition - Indian philosophy and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.
At the beginning of 1946, Cage met Gita Sarabhai, an Indian musician who came to the United States concerned about Western influence on the music of her country. She ended up studying with Cage, who offered to teach her for free if she taught him about Indian music in return. The purpose of music, according to Sarabhai's teacher in India, was "to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences", and this definition became one of the cornerstones of Cage's view on music and art in general. And it is this that he began to explore in his Sonatas and Interludes.
Here's a fantastic video performance of the Sonata No. 5 performed by pianist Carlos Sanchis Aguirre.
I couldn't resist this equally amazing performance by David Greilsamm!
Delia Derbyshire was an inspired and innovative composer of electronic music. For a large part of her career - from 1960 to 1973 - she worked in the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, experimenting and manipulating sound, magnetic tape and recording equipment. To the world at large she is best remembered for arranging and producing the theme music for the Doctor Who series. Her amazingly creative, experimental and groundbreaking work produced sound worlds that express a unique and forward looking vision, stretching the boundaries of what we consider music to be. Derbyshire's haunting and mesmerising Blue Veils and Golden Sands (1967) was composed for the film The World About Us, a documentary about the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert.
For those interested in finding out more about Delia Derbyshire, there's a fine documentary film called The Delian Mode. You can watch it here
And we'll end with the melancholy and meditative first movement of Igor Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet (1918) performed by Dimitri Schenker.
. . . all Three Pieces (performed by Szymon Parulski) here
Beautiful!
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