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/Construction/ (Cage)

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/*Construction*/ is the title of several pieces by American

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> composer
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composer> John Cage
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage>, all scored for unorthodox
percussion <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percussion_instrument>
instruments. The pieces were composed in 193942 while Cage was working
at the Cornish School of the Arts
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_School_of_the_Arts> in Seattle,
Washington <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle,_Washington> and
touring the West Coast
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_of_the_United_States> with a
percussion ensemble he and Lou Harrison
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Harrison> had founded. The series
comprises three /Constructions/. A piece titled /Fourth Construction/,
mentioned in several sources, is apparently either an unfinished work
from 1942 or, more likely, an early title of the work we now know as
/Imaginary Landscape No. 2 (March)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_Landscape>/.

Contents

[hide]

* 1 First Construction (in Metal) <#First_Construction_.28in_Metal.29>

* 2 Second Construction <#Second_Construction>
* 3 Third Construction <#Third_Construction>
* 4 References <#References>
* 5 Sources <#Sources>
* 6 See also <#See_also>

First Construction (in Metal)[edit

<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=1>]

/First Construction (in Metal)/ was composed in 1939; its first title
was /Construction in Metal/.^[1] <#cite_note-compendium-1> Scored for
six percussionists and an assistant. Instruments include, among other
things, Japanese <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan> and Balinese
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali> gongs
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gong>, Chinese
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China> and Turkish
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey> cymbals
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbal>, automobile brake
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake> drums, anvils
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anvil> and a water gong (a gong lowered
into water while vibrating, or struck while it is in the water, etc.^[2]
<#cite_note-2> ) A piano is also used, with the assistant applying a
metal rod to the strings.

In /First Construction/, Cage introduced the technique of composing

using fixed "rhythmic structures".^[3] <#cite_note-3> The idea was
extremely important for his development as a composer, and during the
next 17 years most of his work was done using the same technique or
variations of it.^[4] <#cite_note-4> In this particular case the basic
structure is 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, and a single unit contains 16 bars. So the
composition begins with four units of 16 bars each, then the next
section has three units, the third has two, and so on. Each unit is also
divided the same way: four bars, then three, then two, etc.^[5]
<#cite_note-Nicholls.2C_71-74-5> The first part of the piece (four units
of 16 bars each) was termed "exposition" by Cage, and the ending (which
is a separate nine-bar section) "coda". The music itself is built around
sixteen motives employed in strictly determined sequences.^[5]
<#cite_note-Nicholls.2C_71-74-5> Both the use of ethnic percussion and
the rhythmic proportions technique were inspired in part by Henry Cowell
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cowell>'s lectures that Cage
attended in New York City <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City>
in 1933.^[6] <#cite_note-6>

A recording of the piece by the London Sinfonietta

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Sinfonietta> is included in their
2006 CD /Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_Works_%26_Twentieth_Century_Masters>/.

Second Construction[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=2>]

/Second Construction/ was composed in 1940 and scored for four

percussionists. This work, which adopts roughly the same rhythmic scheme
as in /First Construction/ (sixteen 16-bar sections, only the proportion
is differenthere it is 4, 3, 4, 5), is notable for the use of prepared
piano <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepared_piano>: although the
technique is that of string piano
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_piano>, the score instructs to
place a piece of cardboard
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_fiberboard> and a screw
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw> in the strings.^[7] <#cite_note-7>
The nature of the motive use is fugal
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue>, which caused Cage to become
dissatisfied with the piece in his later years: in a 1980 interview he
called it "[essentially] a fugue of a novel order" which has
"carry-overs from education and theory" and expressed his dislike of
repetition of material in fugues.^[8] <#cite_note-8>

Third Construction[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=3>]

/Third Construction/ was composed in 1941 and dedicated to Xenia

Kashevaroff-Cage, to whom Cage was married at the time and who played in
his percussion orchestra. Third Construction is scored for four
percussionists. There are 24 sections of 24 bars each, and the rhythmic
structure is rotated between the players: 8, 2, 4, 5, 3, 2 for the
fourth, 2, 8, 2, 4, 5, 3 for the first, etc.^[9] <#cite_note-9>

Instrumentation:^[1] <#cite_note-compendium-1>

Player I: North West Indian rattle

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattle_(percussion_instrument)> (wooden),
5 graduated tin cans <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_can>, 3
graduated drums (tom toms <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom-tom_drum>),
claves <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claves>, large Chinese cymbal
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cymbal> (suspended), maracas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maracas>, teponaztli
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teponaztli>

Player II: 3 graduated drums (tom toms), 5 graduated tin cans, claves, 2
cowbells <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowbell_(instrument)>,
Indo-Chinese rattle (wooden, with many separate chambers), lion's roar
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion%27s_roar_(instrument)>

Player III: 3 graduated drums (tom toms), tambourine

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambourine>, 5 graduated tin cans,
quijadas <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quijada>, claves, cricket
callers (split bamboo <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo>), conch
shell <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_shell>

Player IV: tin can with tacks <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbtack>

(rattle), 5 graduated tin cans, claves, maracas, 3 graduated drums (tom
toms), wooden ratchet
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratchet_(instrument)>, bass drum
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_drum> roar

References[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=4>]

1. ^ Jump up to: ^/*a*/ <#cite_ref-compendium_1-0> ^/*b*/

<#cite_ref-compendium_1-1> Catalogue in Paul van Emmerik's /A John
Cage Compendium/ <http://www.xs4all.nl/~cagecomp/music.htm>
2. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-2>* Mariellen R. Sandford. /Happenings and
Other Acts/, essay "The New Theater" by Michael Kirby. P. 30.
Routledge, 1995. ISBN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number_(identifier)>
0-415-09936-6
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-09936-6>
3. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-3>* Pritchett, James (December 1988). "From
Choice to Chance: John Cage's Concerto for Prepared Piano".
/Perspectives of New Music/. Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 26, No.
1. *26* (1): 5081. JSTOR
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR> 833316
<https://www.jstor.org/stable/833316>. doi
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier>:10.2307/833316
<https://doi.org/10.2307%2F833316>.
4. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-4>* Pritchett, Grove
5. ^ Jump up to: ^/*a*/ <#cite_ref-Nicholls.2C_71-74_5-0> ^/*b*/
<#cite_ref-Nicholls.2C_71-74_5-1> Nicholls, 71-74
6. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-6>* David Nicholls. /The Whole World of Music:
A Henry Cowell Symposium/, p. 67. Routledge, 1997. ISBN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number_(identifier)>
90-5755-004-0
 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/90-5755-004-0>
7. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-7>* Nicholls, 74
8. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-8>* Cage quoted in Kostelanetz, 65
9. *Jump up ^ <#cite_ref-9>* Pritchett, 19

Sources[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=5>]

* Richard Kostelanetz. /Conversing with John Cage/, Routledge, 2003.

ISBN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number_(identifier)>
0-415-93792-2
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-93792-2>
* James Pritchett, Laura Kuhn. "John Cage", /Grove Music Online
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians>/,
ed. L. Macy, grovemusic.com <http://www.grovemusic.com/>
(subscription access).
* David Nicholls. /The Cambridge Companion to John Cage
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Companions_to_Music>/.
Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number_(identifier)>
0-521-78968-0
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-78968-0>
* James Pritchett. /The Music of John Cage/. Cambridge University
Press, 1993. ISBN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number_(identifier)>
0-521-56544-8
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-56544-8>

See also[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Construction_(Cage)&action=edit&section=6>]

* List of compositions by John Cage

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_John_Cage>

[hide <#>]

* v <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:John_Cage>
* t <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:John_Cage>
* e
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:John_Cage&action=edit>

John Cage <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage>

Compositions

* /Imaginary Landscape No. 15

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_Landscape>/ (19391952)
* /Sonatas and Interludes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatas_and_Interludes>/ (194648)
* /Music of Changes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Changes>/
(1951)
* /433 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3>/ (1952)
* Concert for Piano and Orchestra
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Concert_for_Piano_and_Orchestra_(Cage)&action=edit&redlink=1>
 (1958)
* /Variations <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_(Cage)>/ (195867)
* /Atlas Eclipticalis
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Atlas_Eclipticalis_(Cage)&action=edit&redlink=1>/
(196162)
* /Cheap Imitation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheap_Imitation>/ (1969)
* /HPSCHD <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPSCHD>/ (1969)
* /Song Books <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Books_(Cage)>/ (1970)
* /Etudes Australes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etudes_Australes>/
(197475)
* /Freeman Etudes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Etudes>/
(197790)
* /Roaratorio <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaratorio>/ (1979)
* /Ryoanji
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Ryoanji_(Cage)&action=edit&redlink=1>/
(1983)
* /Europeras <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europeras>/ (198791)
* /Number Pieces <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Pieces>/ (198792)

Books

* /Silence
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence:_Lectures_and_Writings>/ (1961)
* /A Year from Monday
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Year_from_Monday>/ (1968)
* /Notations <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notations>/ (1969)
* /M <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_(John_Cage_book)>/ (1973)
* /Pour les oiseaux
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Pour_les_oiseaux&action=edit&redlink=1>/
(1976)
* /Empty Words <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_Words>/ (1979)
* /X <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(John_Cage_book)>/ (1983)
* /Anarchy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Anarchy_(John_Cage_book)&action=edit&redlink=1>/
(1988)

Related articles

* Indeterminacy in music
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminacy_(music)>
* West Coast School <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_School>
* Works for prepared piano
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_for_prepared_piano_by_John_Cage>

*List-Class article List of compositions by John Cage

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_John_Cage>*
*Category Category:Compositions by John Cage
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Compositions_by_John_Cage>*

* Third Coast Percussion

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Coast_Percussion>

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Construction_(Cage)&oldid=783552940"
Categories <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category>:

* Compositions by John Cage

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Compositions_by_John_Cage>
* Modernist compositions
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Modernist_compositions>
* Percussion music
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Percussion_music>

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