Adam Tendler: Cage’s Sonatas & Interludes

Presented by Nonsequitur. John Cage was at Cornish College in Seattle in 1940, when he was asked by Syvilla Fort to score a new dance called Bacchanale. He was mainly writing percussion music then, but the stage was too small to accommodate his instruments. He placed a variety of objects between and on the strings of a piano, thus putting “in the hands of a single pianist the equivalent of an entire percussion orchestra.” Cage went on to compose many works for “prepared piano,” including the wonderful Sonatas & Interludes (1946-48). Tonight, acclaimed pianist Adam Tendler performs the complete 70-minute work from memory.