DVD version. The first collaboration between John Cage and Scottish traditional music group The Whistlebinkies occurred in Edinburgh in 1984. Cage was fascinated by their instrumentation of Lowland pipes, clarsach, fiddle, wooden flute, concertina, drum and voice. This led on to the commissioning of Scottish Circus for the ensemble in 1990, a way of performing traditional Scottish music as individuals of an ensemble together.

The September 1990 premiere in Glasgow, in Cage's presence, also included his newly devised version of 4'33" (which lasted 10 minutes!).

These recordings showcase Edinburgh's historic Inverleith House as not only the recording venue, but the acoustic of the house as a performer in its own right.

This DVD presents two first recordings of Scottish Circus, demonstrating how no two performances of the piece are the same. Also included are both outdoor and indoor performances of 4'33". Scottish Circus films presented with 5.1 Surround and Dolby Stereo options.

Bonus features: John Cage, Scottish Circus and The Whistlebinkies, Eddie McGuire and Stuart Eydmann in conversation; Scottish Circus studio version (PCM 24-bit stereo, no video); John Cage in Conversation, Edinburgh 1984 (mono, no video).

Includes a 24-page booklet of photos with essays by Eddie McGuire, James Pritchett, Prof. Björn Heile and Brian Brandt. Plus interviews with John Cage by Steve Sweeny-Turner and Stuart Eydmann by Neill Martin.

"An extraordinary cross-cultural encounter is finally captured by this DVD and booklet." Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman Magazine.

The Whistlebinkies: Peter Anderson (Scottish side drum, bodhran), Judith Peacock Cummings (voice, clarsach), Annaliese Dagg (viola), Stuart Eydmann (English concertina, rhythm bones), Mark Hayward (violin), Iain MacDonald (Scottish Lowland bagpipes), Eddie McGuire (flute)
Films directed by Tim Chu
The Complete John Cage Edition, Volume 56