The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I).
It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet in Four Parts it is indicative of Cage’s interest in Indian aesthetics. In The Seasons Cage uses the Indian signification as inspiration: Winter as quiescense, Spring as creation, Summer as preservation and Fall as destruction. It is one of the compositions where Cage tried to “imitate nature in her manner of operation”, which is, according to the composer, one of the ideas from Indian philosophy.
The work’s overall rhythmic strusture is 2-2-1-3-2-4-1-3-1. This structure also expresses the relative lengths of each of the nine movements.
Cage first composed the piano version. The orchestration was made with the help of Lou Harrison and Virgil Thomson.
Here you can listen to an excerpt (Prelude I – Winter) in both versions (see links below).
Il giorno in cui qualcuno si laurea con una tesi su John Cage seguita e ispirata dal sottoscritto deve essere celebrato, per cui mettiamo questo post.
All’inizio del 1947 John Cage scrisse The Seasons, un Balletto in un atto pensato per la compagnia di Merce Cunningham che la portò in scena nello stesso anno con scene e costumi di Isamu Noguchi.
Il brano prende la forma di una suite in 9 movimenti: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I).
Si tratta di una composizione dolce e lirica che, come le Sonate e Interludi e lo String Quartet, si ispira, concettualmente, all’estetica indiana nella quale l’inverno è visto come uno stato di quiete, la primavera come creazione, l’estate come conservazione e l’autunno come distruzione.
È uno di quei pezzi in cui Cage tenta di “imitare il modo di procedere della natura”, altra idea tratta dalla filosofia indiana e il brano, pur nella sua complessità ritmica, ha un andamento ciclico, con la fine che equivale ad un nuovo inizio. Così anche Cage, come altri compositori, ha le sue stagioni in cui le cose nascono, crescono, mutano e si distruggono, ma qualche volta ritornano.
In realtà The Seasons esiste in due versioni. Quella per piano solo venne composta per prima e in seguito Cage la orchestrò con l’aiuto di Lou Harrison and Virgil Thomson.
Qui potete ascoltare lo stesso estratto (Prelude I e Winter) in entrambe le versioni e apprezzare le differenze di uno stesso testo affidato prima alla concentrazione monotimbrica del pianoforte in cui, proprio per questo, l’interprete deve giocare su sottili sfumature coloristiche e poi alla pluralità di suoni dell’orchestra, più ricca, ma anche meno definita dal punto di vista ritmico e armonico.
John Cage – The Seasons (1947) – estratto/excerpt Prelude I & Winter
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solo piano version – Joshua Pierce piano
orchestra version – Dennis Russell Davies, American Composers Orchestra
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
The Seasons consists of nine movements: Prelude I – Winter – Prelude II – Spring – Prelude III – Summer – Prelude IV – Fall – Finale (Prelude I). It is a sweet and lyric composition, very much unlike Cage’s other works. Like in Sonatas and Interludes and String Quartet […]
Congratulazioni!!
Grazie. Per la cronaca:
bye
Allora congratulamenti e complimentazioni a tutti e due!!
PS: heidegger e cage? ‘azzarola, interessante!
sto scrivendo una tesi su cage. se avessi del materiale sull’autore anche e sopratutto inedito, sarei grandemente interessata. ti lascio il mio indierizzo e-mail per ulteriori contatti, sperando tu legga questo messaggio: sorkys@virgilio.it. Grazie, Serena