John Cage

Irvine Arditti completes his complete traversal of Cage’s works for solo violin with Cheap Imitation in this set.

In 1969, John Cage transcribed a two piano version of Erik Satie’s 1918 music drama Socrate to accompany Merce Cunningham’s choreography Second Hand. At the last minute, the French firm that held the copyright to Satie’s score refused to allow the performance. With an ingenious rewriting, Cage retained the rhythmical architecture of the musical lines, but replaced each note with a new tonal value, creating a melodically original work with an identical rhythmic structure.

The 44 Harmonies are based on early American music, are, to quote Cage: “for the most part both quartets and solos, subtractions of different sorts from anthems and congregational music written by composers who were at least twenty years old at the time of the American Revolution” (specifically: Supply Belcher, William Billings, Jacob French, Andrew Law, and James Lyon). These Harmonies are derived from Cage’s Apartment House 1776.

In 1998, Irvine Arditti, along with pianist Stephen Drury, were in the studio to continue recording Cage’s complete works for violin and piano. On the schedule was Roger Zahab’s realization of 13 of the Harmonies from Apartment House 1776. For various reasons, that recording was not made. However, Arditti became inspired. Arditti wrote: “When I looked at the original score of Harmonies, I saw that the open harmonies of this almost medieval looking score lent itself perfectly to the homogenous sound of a string quartet.” Arditti continued to arrange all 44 Harmonies for string quartet with the approval of Cage’s publisher, C.F. Peters. The complete set receive their first recording here.

CD 1: 44 Harmonies from Apartment House 1776 (1976), arranged for string quartet by Irvine Arditti (1999-2000), Harmonies 1-XXV 70:28
CD 2: 44 Harmonies from Apartment House 1776, continued, Harmonies XXVI-XLIV 32:58 (first recording); Cheap Imitation (1977) 31:52

Arditti Quartet: Irvine Arditti, violin; Graeme Jennings, violin; Dov Scheindlin, viola; Rohan de Saram, cello
Irvine Arditti, violin solo (Cheap Imitation)

Liner notes by Cage scholar James Pritchett with an additional essay by Irvine Arditti.