John Cage Trust, Fisher Center, and The Bard College Conservatory of Music present
The Ten Thousand Things
John Cage Weekend
September 20, 2014
John Cage Trust, Fisher Center, and The Bard College Conservatory of Music present
September 20, 2014
The Ten Thousand Things is a title given by musicologist James Pritchett to a grand project initiated by John Cage in 1953 involving the composition of independent pieces for various media, each bearing a number title, each capable of being played alone or together with any of the others. Such an open work could be added to constantly, and Cage’s composition remains perpetually “in progress.” This performance brings together five of these pieces, spanning 1953 to 1956, into a chance-determined musical collage: 59 1/2” for a String Player (1953), 45’ for Speaker (1954), 31’ 57.9864” for a Pianist (1954), 26’ 1.1499” for a String Player (1955), and 27’ 10.554” for a Percussionist (1956).