2024 stock. Originally issued in 1959 on Smithsonian Folkways, the initial idea for Indeterminacy came from avant-garde pianist, David Tudor, who suggested that John Cage give a lecture that was simply the telling of stories. Cage did this in Brussels in September 1958. For this lecture Cage simply stood in front of an audience and told 30 stories without musical accompaniment. Upon returning to the States in 1959, Cage decided to record the stories, but this time with the musical accompaniment of David Tudor. For the recording the two men were placed in different studios where they could not hear each other, while Tudor performed portions of Cage’s “Concert for Piano and Orchestra” (1957-58) and pre-recorded selections of Cage’s “Fontana Mix” (Milan, 1958), and Cage simultaneously told 90 one-minute stories (sped up or slowed down according to the story’s length). In a career that spanned over half a century, this album is considered to be one of Cage’s best. It has never been reissued on LP until now. Includes liner notes by John Cage.

"The idea behind Indeterminacy was, like many Cagean ideas, essentially simple and audaciously original. Cage read 90 stories, his speed determined by the story's length. In another room, beyond earshot of Cage, David Tudor, pianist and veteran Cage collaborator, performed miscellaneous selections from Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra and played pre-recorded tape from Cage's Fontana Mix. The resulting collaboration is an astounding piece of "music," and a fine introduction to the innovations of John Cage. "A wonderfully curious way to hear stories." —Stereophile