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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The term "Easy Listening" is not necessarily the first thing associated with the composer John Cage, but this CD compiles many works that are indeed easy on the ear & are quite relaxing too. The only track that seems slightly out of place is "Souvenir" (here receiving its recording premiere) which is for Organ, whilst the others are all scored for Piano/Prepared Piano or Toy Piano. It is also the only track that outlasts its welcome at almost 12 mins & includes some rather alarming passages when it sounds as if the organist has sat down on the keyboard. Apart from that, it is a great CD, with some fascinating sounds emanating from the prepared piano - in "Bacchanale" Cage wished to produce the sounds of African Drumming and amazingly you can believe you are listening to drums rather than a piano with nuts and bolts between the strings! Whilst the music is fairly minimal (it IS Cage!) it is nothing less than enjoyable, with good performances from Drury & helpful sleeve notes explaining the origins of the Prepared Piano technique. Recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Great for old and new listeners
3 Aug 2002
Format:Audio CD
...For a new listener this album is perfect. It's beautiful, and accessible and just all around pleasing to listen to. The piece "In A Landscape" is the first piece I play for anyone who says they don't like John Cage. They're usually sold within the first 30 seconds of the piece. The ambience and simplicity of this piece is so striking, but Cage's take on harmony (which is especially challenging in a piece that's so focused on melody) keeps the piece from sounding new age.
Anyone just starting out with John Cage, start here. If this strikes you well, check out "Music For Changes" and then the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano. Beyond that I highly encourage anyone to do some research, read some of Cage's writings, especially a collection of essays and lectures titled "Silence." As his life progresses, his music becomes more minimal and disjointed, and his words really strike down exactly what it is he's trying to accomplish with his music, and that really helps the listener.
For listeners that are already very familiar with Cage's work, this still isn't a waste. These recordings are a great collection of some nice Cage pieces that don't get as much attention, and is still a really pleasing album to listen to.
Anyone just starting out with John Cage, start here. If this strikes you well, check out "Music For Changes" and then the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano. Beyond that I highly encourage anyone to do some research, read some of Cage's writings, especially a collection of essays and lectures titled "Silence." As his life progresses, his music becomes more minimal and disjointed, and his words really strike down exactly what it is he's trying to accomplish with his music, and that really helps the listener.
For listeners that are already very familiar with Cage's work, this still isn't a waste. These recordings are a great collection of some nice Cage pieces that don't get as much attention, and is still a really pleasing album to listen to.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Don't be intimidated!
18 Oct 1999
Format:Audio CD
Don't be intimidated by what you may have heard about John Cage; his music can be much more accessible than that of many other 20th-century composers, and perhaps even some earlier ones (I'll take Cage over Wagner any day). Drury plays Cage's early piano music, some of it written as dance accompaniment, with knowledge and respect. The title piece, which opens the album, sounds superficially like new-age music, but isn't the least bit boring--it's as boring as a beautiful woman, or a view from a mountain. More idiosyncratic and humorous (Cage *always* had a great sense of humor) are the "Music for Toy Piano," which shows Cage's ability to see more possibilities than the rest of us, and the short "Prelude to Meditation," which says an enormous amount with a few light touches on the keys. There's even an organ piece, which provides a nice variation. Please forget what you may have heard about Cage and buy this CD!
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Cage for the new listener
30 Aug 1999
Format:Audio CD
A good collection for those unfamiliar with the wonderful, witty work of John Cage. These early piano pieces from the 1940s could almost be 1990s New Age music; but I don't mean that perjoratively; In fact, Cage wanted the music to create a state of meditation in the listener. As he said, his objective was to "quiet the mind and make it more receptive to divine influence." A divine collection...
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