The Complete John Cage Variations Project
Complete John Cage Variations Project
Book and CD: Actions | Remarks: John Cage’s Variations and the expansion of the score, sonic materials, space, and the environment.” Edited by Cat Hope and Lindsay Vickery, including CD recording of the 8 John Cage ‘Variations’ (1958-76) recorded by the Australian ensemble Decibel.
Mode 342. Paperback & CD. First edition. 251 pages. ISBN 978-0-9799863-1-4. May, 2024. AUD $50.
Authors featured are Leta E. Miller, David P. Miller, Vincent Bonin, Paul van Emmerik, Thomas DeLio, James Pritchett, Cat Hope, Lindsay Vickery, Stuart James and an introduction by Warren Burt.
The eight ‘Variations' compositions by John Cage reflect the most productive years of this famous American’s compositional life - from Variation I in 1958 to Variation VIII in 1976. They show the evolution of some of the earliest aleatoric, multimedia and spatial approaches to contemporary live music performance. This book brings together new and existing perspectives, experiences and backgrounds to these remarkable works, explored by leading International Cage scholars and practitioners. The writings are complemented with a beautifully mastered CD recording of Decibel’s Complete John Cage Variations Project, an hour-long performance program featuring the Variations I - VIII. The works are performed using annotated digital scores created within the ensemble, automating many of the manual processes that resulting in new, accurate versions that align with Cage's artistic aims. Traditional acoustic instruments and period electronics are featured alongside photocells, Arduino boards, online messaging services and calls, noise bass guitar, shortwave radio and custom DIY circuitry. Rare composer notes and missing parts were sourced from the John Cage Trust, New York Public Library and Langlois Foundation. Published in conjunction with Cage’s publisher Peters Edition, the scores developed for the project are available via the Apple store.
Decibel is a new music ensemble and artistic research team that focuses on the integration of acoustic and electronic instruments in chamber music performance, founded in Western Australia in 2009. They are world-leading interpreters of graphic notations and pioneer digital score formats for composition and performance. This includes the ongoing development of their successful Decibel ScorePlayer App for iPad, enabling coordinated performance of graphic notations for musicians and composers internationally. They have released 7 albums and tour internationally regularly
