Credits:

Alexei Lubimov

Description:

Alexei Lyubimovs Rockenhaus Live: John Cage in the Wee Hours!Four Walls, written by John Cage in 1944 for a dance drama choreographed by Merce Cunningham, predates his works based on chance operations. Although it is said that Cunningham requested a piece that would be easy to perform, the composition is written for the piano to use only the white keys, and only in the ninth movement, VII, does a soprano sing a solo based on lyrics by Cunningham. The performer is Alexei Lyubimov, a Cage specialist who has frequently performed this work in concerts and collaborations with dancers since 1992. This is a recording of a live performance that reportedly took place at midnight at the 1994 Rockenhaus Music Festival.The sound, oscillating between a silence akin to peering into an abyss and movements of almost violent intensity, is brimming with beauty and excitement that, according to Lyubimov, foresh