The term Number Pieces refers to a body of late compositions (40, or 41 if Seventeen was actually composed) by John Cage. Each piece is named after the number of performers involved: for instance, Seven is a piece for seven performers, One9 (read "One Nine") is the ninth work for one performer, and 1O1 is a piece for an orchestra of 101 musicians. The vast majority of these works were composed using Cage's time bracket technique: the score consists of short fragments (frequently just one note, with or without dynamics) and indications, in minutes and seconds, during which the fragment can start and by what time it should end. Time brackets can be fixed (e.g. from 1.15 to 2.00) or flexible (e.g. from anywhere between 1.15 and 1.45, and to anywhere between 2.00 and 2.30).
All of the Number Pieces were composed during the last six years of Cage's life, 1987–1992. Most are for traditional instruments, with six exceptions that range from works for rainsticks, the Japanese aerophone shō and conch shells to an electronically amplified version of 4′33″. This article lists all Number Pieces, organized by number of performers.
List of Number Pieces
One Title Instrumentation Date of composition Dedicatee(s) Details One piano December 1987 Juan Allende-Blin 10 time brackets, all flexible except for the ninth. Each contains music written on two staves, but the content of one staff can be played in any relation with that of the other staff. One2 1–4 pianos Summer 1989 Margaret Leng Tan The pianist moves between several pianos (in 1992 Cage advised Margaret Leng Tan to use the I Ching to coordinate her movements). All instruments have their damper pedals wedged, so that the strings vibrate freely throughout the piece. One3 unspecified (amplified ambient sound) late 1989 Full title: One3 = 4′33″ (0′00″) + 𝄞. There are no time brackets. The performer is to arrange a sound system so that "the whole hall is on the edge of feedback, without actually feeding back." Thus the composition consists entirely of electronically amplified sound of the hall and the audience. One4 percussion 1990 Fritz Hauser 6 time brackets for the left hand and 8 for the right. Each contains a numeral on a stave, referring to an instrument — the piece is to be performed on "cymbals and/or drums chosen by the drummer." Cage adds that the sounds produced should be either very long or very short. One5 piano May 1990 Ellsworth Snyder 21 time brackets for the left hand and 24 for the right. Each contains a single chord or a single note. The performer is instructed to either hold the pedal throughout, or make as many overlappings as possible (again, using the pedal if necessary). One6 violin June 1990 János Négyesy The time brackets are extremely long in this piece, up to 7 minutes, many overlap, and all contain just a single tone. Performances of the piece can be accompanied by a sound sculpture by Mineko Grimmer, which is made of ice with pebbles in it. When the ice melts, the pebbles fall and strike wires, producing sound, and then fall into a pool of water. One6 was initially intended for Paul Zukofsky. One7 unspecified Fall 1990 Pauline Oliveros This piece is the first part from Four6. The performer chooses 12 different sounds and plays within flexible time brackets. One8 cello with curved bow April 1991 Michael Bach There are 53 time brackets, each with a single sound produced on one, two, three or four strings. This Number Piece is microtonal. It may be performed with 108. One9 shō July 1991 Mayumi Miyata Ten movements, amounting to maximum total duration of 121 minutes. Any three movements of this piece may be performed with 108. One10 violin February 1992 Each time bracket contains a single sound. Like One6, this piece can be performed simultaneously with a sound sculpture by Mineko Grimmer; the sculpture is essentially the same as in the earlier piece, but in a different configuration. One11 unspecified (film) 1992 This Number Piece is a film that consists of chance-determined play of electric light. It is scored for "solo cameraman." It may be performed with 103. One12 voice 1992 Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi and the Quaderni Perugini di Musica Contemporanea Possibly not a separate work, but a performing score for One7. The score contains instructions for creating a chance-determined series of 640 numbers between 1 and 12. The numbers are then interpreted as vowels or consonants (numbers 2–11), words (12) or "empty words" (1; pronouns, articles, etc.). The choice of words is left to the performer. One13 cello with curved bow 1 live and 3 recorded cellos July–August 1992 co-author is Michael Bach Bachtischahttps://www.bach-bogen.de/blog/thecelloupgrade/john-cage-und-michael-bach-bachtischa-one13-for-cello-and-prerecorded-media-1992/ John Cage and Michael Bach Bachtischa, ONE13 for Cello and Prerecorded Media (1992) The work remained incomplete at the time of John Cage's death but was published in 2009 as a collaborative composition with Michael Bach Bachtischa. The work has four voices, all playing the same note, but with various differences.
Two Title Instrumentation Date of composition Dedicatee(s) Details Two flute and piano December 1987 Roberto Fabbriciani and Carlo Neri This was the first Number Piece. Both parts contain 9 flexible time brackets and one fixed. Originally devised for flute and vibraphone, the flute part has only three different pitches and is quiet throughout, dynamics ranging from mp to pp. The piano part is notated on two staves, with the content of one played in any relation to that of the other. Each piano time bracket consists of 7 to 10 sounds. Two2 2 pianos Summer 1989 For "Double Edge": Edmund Niemann and Nurit Tilles This piece does not use time brackets. The score consists of 36 lines of music, 5 bars each. There are 31 sound events per each line, divided 5, 7, 5; 7, 7 as in Renga poetry. The pianists play one bar at a time in different tempi, both have to finish playing the bar at hand before moving to the next one. Two3 shō and five conch shells July 1991 The shō part is the solo shō Number Piece, One9. There are 10 movements in this work, amounting to 121 minutes total duration. The conch shell parts contain only fixed time brackets. Within each time bracket there are two numbers: the first refers to the conch, the second, in superscript, refers to the intended number of bubbles to be produced (the shells are filled with water and "played" by carefully tipping them until a bubble forms inside, producing a sound). Any three movements of this piece may be performed with 108. Two4 violin and piano or shō July 1991 Commissioned by the McKim Fund of the Library of Congress Only flexible time brackets are used. The violin part is microtonal and consists for the most part of long sounds. It is divided into three movements. The piano/shō part contains mostly short sounds and is in four movements. Two5 tenor trombone and piano October 1991 Hildegard Kleeb and Roland Dahinden The trombone part is microtonal. Both parts include silences (up to 5 minutes). Two6 violin and piano April 1992 Ami Flammer and Martine Joste The time brackets of Two6 are empty and the performers have to fill them themselves. The pianist's material consists of parts of Extended Lullaby (chance-determined variations of Erik Satie's Vexations) and sequences of ascending pitches. The violinist chooses between silence, microtonal passages, or dyads from chance-determined pitches.
Three Title Instrumentation Date of composition Dedicatee(s) Details Three a variety of recorders July 1989 Trio Dolce: Christine Brelowski, Geesche Geddert, and Dorothea Winter The three performers all use several instruments: the first uses sopranino, soprano, alto and tenor recorders, the second sopranino, soprano, alto, basset, tenor and bass, the third soprano, alto, basset, tenor and double bass. The outer movements are to be performed "as legato as possible." Three2 unspecified percussion May 1991 Michael Pugliese and the Talking Drums
Four Title Instrumentation Date of composition Dedicatee(s) Details Four string quartet 1989, before May 9 Arditti Quartet There are three five-minute sections: A, B, and C. All parts contain 10 time brackets, 9 flexible and one fixed. The structure of the piece varies depending on how long the desired duration is. For a 10-minute performance, section B is played once, then the performers exchange their parts according to the instructions in the score, and then section B is played again. For a 20-minute performance, only sections A and C are played, without pause, but again with the performers exchanging parts between sections. Finally, a complete 30-minute performance requires the sections played in the ABC order twice. Time brackets contain only single tones at low dynamics (p to ppp). Four2 SATB chorus October 1990 Madrigal Choir of the Hood River Valley High School There are 3 time brackets for sopranos, 4 for altos, 6 for tenors, and 6 for the basses. The score also supplies a pronunciation table. Each section of the chorus (sopranos, altos, etc.) may be divided into two or more groups, so that one group started the sound and the other continued it. Four3 1–2 pianos, violin or oscillator, 12 rainsticks (three for each performer) May 1991 Merce Cunningham Dance Company There are 24 empty flexible time brackets, to be filled by the performers. The piano part is to be constructed from Extended Lullaby, 48 chance-determined variations on Erik Satie's Vexations. Each of these consists of 12 eighth notes. Sounds other than the piano are silence, a high frequency sine wave played on an oscillator or on a violin (without vibrato), and the sound of rainsticks (played by tilting them). Four4 percussion October 1991 Amadinda Percussion Group The four performers have 22, 16, 10 and 15 time brackets respectively. Instruments are chosen by the performers; the time brackets only contain numerals to refer to different instruments. Four5 four saxophones October 1991 John Sampen Four6 unspecified March 1992 Pauline Oliveros, Joan La Barbara, William Winant and Leonard Stein Each performer chooses 12 different sounds and plays within flexible time brackets. The sounds must have fixed amplitude, overtone structure, etc. The first performer's part may be performed solo, as One7.
Five Title Instrumentation Date of composition Dedicatee(s) Details Five unspecified instruments or voices January 1988 and the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik One of the earliest Number Pieces. Although the instruments are unspecified, pitches and dynamics are provided. Each part contains five time brackets, and each time bracket contains one, two, or three sounds. Five2 English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, timpani May 1991 Mauricio Kagel A birthday present for Mauricio Kagel. Every part contains five time brackets; the parts are nearly identical in the durations of the brackets (except for time bracket no. 3). The first two brackets for timpani and the last two for English horn are silences; all others contains one, two, or three sounds. Five3 trombone and string quartet October 1991 James Fulkerson and the Mondriaan Quartet Five4 two saxophones and percussion October 1991 In Memoriam Stefan Wolpe Five5 flute, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet and percussion October 1991 Thomas Nee Every time bracket contains a single sound.
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