Indeterminacy

In Complete Works for Multiple Piano, Morton Feldman’s quietly radical writing for three or more hands is heard as a three‑hour continuum of hushed, hovering sonorities, where time dilates and the piano becomes a shared, breathing instrument.

1971 composition fusing classical structure with jazz improvisation by Third Stream composer, released in 1978 by Flying Fish.

Cage's very rare first album of his landmark 1946-48 compositions performed by Maro Ajemian, released as a double LP set on Dial Records in 1951, it can't get more seminal than this. An essential piece of history in embossed heavy cardboard gatefold sleeve with stickers.

1980 re-issue as a single LP on Harmonia Mundi's distinctively packaged "Musique d'abord" series of the seminal first album of music by Cage with his landmark 1946-48 compositions performed by Maro Ajemian, originally released in 1951 as a double LP set on Dial. French text.

Original 1976 LP on Denon with Cage's landmark 1946-48 compositions for prepared piano superbly performed by Yuji Takahashi in 1975. With insert.

1997 CD re-issue on Fylkingen of Yuji Takahashi's landmark performance of Cage's prepared piano masterwork recorded in 1965 and originally released on the same label as two separate LP's in 1966.

Very rare ultra-limited first release from 1988 on RRRip of very early electro-acoustic pieces from the 1940's including the collaboration with experimental writer Kenneth Patchen.

1983 re-issue on Discovery Records of the influential 1958 jazz-avant-poetry album by experimental poet Patchen, who had previuosly collaborated with John Cage, reading his poetry backed by a chamber-jazz composition by Ferguson.

1970 re-issue on Mainstream of the 1963 split LP on Time Records experimental music series curated by Earl Brown, with Cage's 1960 wild noise/industrial (20 years in advance) electronic piece performed with David Tudor, backed with three compostions by Wolff for duet and string quartet. Essential.

First volume of excerpts from the ground-breaking and mind-blowing August 1965 sound collage performance (predating Nurse With Wound and Bladder Flask for about 15 years), released by Everest in 1966 (this is a 1970 re-press with different labels). Essential.

Second volume of excerpts from the ground-breaking and mind-blowing August 1965 sound collage performance (predating Nurse With Wound and Bladder Flask for about 15 years), released by Everest in 1969 (this is a 1970 re-press with different labels). Essential.

The astonishing and influential first solo electronic album by the pianist/composer and one of the rarest on Cramps' superlative "Nova musicha" experimental music series, released in 1978. Some of the best and most extreme electronic music ever.

Rare 1998 red vinyl LP on Rotating Arts Press in a limited edition of 200 numbered copies with an undated recording of a satellite broadcast of the electronic environment for a live event by Merce Cunningham, plus two 1988 live radio recording.

The first album on Cramps' superlative "Nova musicha" experimental music series released in 1974, presenting pieces for piano, voice and radio noises spanning from 1947 to 1971, performed by an all-star cast including Walter Marchetti, Demetrio Stratos, Juan Hidalgo and Gianni-Emilio Simonetti.

17th album on Cramps' superlative "Nova musicha" experimental music series released in 1977, with piano pieces performed by the composer himself recorded live in 1976.

1977 LP on ALM with three piano pieces spanning from 1938 to 1969, plus a toccata by Johann Sebastian Bach, superbly performed by Yuji Takahashi.

1978 double LP set on the obscure Italian label I Dischi Dell'Ippopotamo with a landmark performance of Cage's composition by pianist extraordinnaire Bruno Canino, never re-issued on either CD or LP.

Very Pieces for (prepared) piano, percussion and voice in various combinations from the 1940's and 50's, performed by Joshua Pierce and the Paul Price Percussion Ensemble, released by Tomato in 1978.compositions from the 1940's for (prepared) piano, piano and violin, percussion, performed by pianist Reinbert de Leeuw and released by Philips in 1980, never re-issued on either LP or CD.

1981 LP on CP² Recordings with two compositions respectively from 1978 and 1969 performed on the violin Paul Zukofsky.

1983 LP on CP² Recordings with the demanding late 1970's studies for solo violin performed by by their dedicatee Paul Zukofsky.

1984 LP on CP² Recordings with the 1951 composition for Merce Cunningham performed by Toronto's New Music Concerts conducted by Paul Zukofsky.

Very early compositions from the 1940's for (prepared) piano, piano and violin, percussion, performed by pianist Reinbert de Leeuw and released by Philips in 1980, never re-issued on either LP or CD.

Live 1983 recordings from the Cornish Institute in Seattle of John Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis performed simultaneously with Winter Music, conducted by the composer. Originally released by Mode Records in 1986 as a 4LP box.

Rare 1987 double LP on Edition Michael Frauenlob Bauer with the composer himself performing his 1970's text-composition recorded live in 1984. Truly extreme stuff.

1987 LP on Hungaroton matching a 1981 compositions for five orchestras performed by Savaria Symphony Orchestra led by Peter Eötvös with a set of indeterminate solo piano pices from the 1950's performed by several Hungarian composers including László Sáry and Zoltán Jeney.

Rare 2006 CD on Megadisc Classics of late compositions for ensemble from the late 1980's / early 90's, performed by tJames Fulkerson's Barton Workshop.

Rare first edition of Cage's 1967 artist book with multi-colored text, published by Something Else Press in 1967.

Rare fully illustrated hommage to the composer published as the program for the 1978 première and recording of Sounday by KRO Radio in Holland, with texts by Pierre Boulez, Merce Cunningham, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, etc..

First issue of American art/music magazine published by Crown Point Press in 1978 completely devoted to John Cage.

Thick program for the 2002 series of concerts and events around John Cage organized in Milano for the composer’s 90th birthday.

Illustrated exhibition catalogue published by Crown Point Press in 1980 with several essays on Cage, Marioni, Barry and Jonas.

Rare poster for a series of exhibitions and concerts by Cage through Germany in 1978, ilustrated with the score of Variations VIII.

Historical avant-garde pieces for two pianos (prepared, quarter-tone or with tape) spanning from 1913 to 1944, performed by Kristine Schol and Mats Persson and released on Caprice in 1982 and never re-issued on either LP or CD.

The important 1951 Concerto with Cage's first foray in chance operations conducted by Lukas Foss with pianist Yuji Takahashi, backed by the conductor's charming baroque piece for orchestra, released by Nonesuch in 1968.

1978 re-issue of the 1976 album on the classic Obscure label and series curated by Brian Eno, with five early Cage pieces from the 1940's for solo piano, solo voice, and percussion and voice, performed by Robert Wyatt, Carla Bley and Richard Bernas, backed with three compositions for ensemble and two pianos by Steele.

1970 re-press of the 1967 fantastic, mind-blowing and essential compilation of pieces for chorus and for voices altered electronically by sound synthesizers and vocoder, conducted by Alvin Lucier and released on Odyseey's "Music Of Our Time" avant-garde music series curated by David Behrman.

Cage's beautiful and unusual 1950 string quartet in a monumental compilation released as a 3LP box set by Vox in 1973 with a who's who of the American avant-garde, including Crumb's and Kirchner's outstanding quartets with electric amplification and electronics, with impeccable performances by the Concord String Quartet. With insert.

Cage's 1963 piece for voices and percussion with solos plus three more experimental compositions from the 1960's by the other composers, performed by the San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble and released on Wergo's "Große Interpreten Neuer Musik" series in 1971. Never re-issued on either LP or CD.

1978 LP on Turnabout with several mainly avant-garde compositions or adaptations for voice and guitar performed by Rosalind Rees and David Starobin. With insert.

1970's re-press of the 1968 LP with five superb realizations for percussion and electronics of as many classic avant-garde compositions, including Cage's Fontana Mix-Feed, spanning from 1958 to 1965, released on Columbia's "Music Of Our Time" avant-garde music series curated by David Behrman.