Pianist pays homage to John Cage’s work
By Alex Palmer
Nov. 12, 2003 9:00 p.m.
John Cage, one of the most recognized composers of the 20th
century, may be best known for a time when he was silent.
One of his most famous pieces, “4’33,” is four
minutes and thirty-three seconds of a pianist onstage, not playing,
where only the noise generated by the audience and ambiance of the
concert hall are considered the “music” of the
piece.
However, this Monday, Cage will be remembered for what he did in
between the silence. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is
hosting a performance of the music of this truly unique American
composer. Pianist Joel Sachs will be playing several pieces
composed by the icon and innovator Cage.
Besides using silence to create new ways of appreciating and
understanding music, Cage experimented with radios, phonographs,
computer programs and Zen Buddhism in his works.
His works were composed over a span of six decades and include a
mix of styles and approaches to music that make it tough to
identify one particular work or period as more notable or
significant than any other. But in Monday’s performance,
Sachs focuses in on one particular year in Cage’s prolific
career, playing several works the composer created during 1948.
These pieces were composed just a few years before Cage began
incorporating randomness and chance in his works, using devices
that make it difficult for the performer to control how a
particular piece would sound. But for Monday’s concert, Sachs
knows what the pieces will sound like.
“There’s nothing improvised about these particular
pieces,” said Sachs. “The only thing you can’t
predict is how the piano will react. All pianos are a little
different, so it’s impossible to have a performance sound
exactly the same twice.”
The performance features the “Sonatas and
Interludes,” one of Cage’s best-known works, as well as
“Suite for Toy Piano,” “Dream” and
“In a Landscape.” Sachs will be playing all of them on
the piano, but as would be expected with a performance of John
Cage’s music, none of it will be standard piano playing.
“Suite for Toy Piano” is actually played on a
children’s toy piano, which creates a more high-pitched sound
and incorporates an element of humor to the performance.
For “Sonatas and Interludes,” Sachs will perform
using the Cage invention of the “prepared piano,” which
is constructed by strategically placing household objects like
screws, pieces of plastic and pieces of felt onto the piano’s
hammers. The placement of these objects transforms the piano music
into that of a percussive orchestra, creating a variety of sounds
and musical textures.
“Everything about the sound changes, there’s a large
variety of colors, it’s extremely beautiful,” said
Sachs.
But while the objects expand the sound of the piano, they also
mute the instrument’s output.
“The prepared piano makes the instrument much quieter,
actually. I’m hoping the air conditioner won’t be
working,” said Sachs.
An award-winning musical director, writer and professor, Sachs
is the founder and conductor of the New Juilliard Ensemble as well
as co-director of the new music group Continuum, which has
performed nationally and internationally in countries such as
Central and South America, Armenia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.
Sachs has performed these specific Cage works several times
since the early 1990s, and most recently 2 years ago in Brazil.
Sachs also knew Cage personally during the last 20 years of the
composer’s life and he has high regard for him.
“(Cage) was a very inspiring person. He had guts when it
came to artistic ideas,” said Sachs. “He was a very
amusing and nice person.”
Joel Sachs performs at LACMA Nov. 17. Student admission is
free. Call the ticket office at (323) 857-6010 for more
information.
