This is volume 47 of the Mode label’s Complete
John Cage Edition, a clearly magnificent project which has I am ashamed
to say has passed me by almost completely until now. Cage didn’t
write much music for organ, but the advantage of this is that we can
have the entire oeuvre on a double disc CD or a single DVD. The CD is
nicely produced, but the DVD has numerous advantages which will appeal
to audio buffs, the considerable spatial qualities of the remarkable
1971 Grönlunds organ in Gammelstad being captured in fascinating
surround-sound on the DVD. The quality of the instruments in Luleå
has already been encountered in Hans-Ola Ericsson’s very special
The Four Beasts’ Amen (see
review).
This would seem to be enough of a USP for anyone, but the complex and
balletic interaction of the assistants changing stops on
Organ²/ASLSP
and other works makes this one of the most visually appealing organ
videos you’re likely to find anywhere - short of one of those
spectacular productions which have cameras racing up and down the pipes
and flying over landscapes in efforts to compensate for the static nature
of the instrument.
Paul Serotsky goes into some length on the conceptual ins and outs of
Organ²/ASLSP in what in fact is a spoof
review
from one of those historic April Fool lists, but which does throw up
some interesting views and issues. The “mechanics of going ‘as
slowly as possible’” can of course be taken to ridiculous
extremes, “Yet, Cage wrote a piece of
music…”
with the resulting associated problems laid out extensively. I would
counter this by positing that Cage might also have considered his composition
a piece of
art, at which point all of the stresses of relating
an ‘endless’ piece of music to our usual expectations fall
away. Whew. By accepting a definition of music as ‘organised sound’
and having a requirement of a certain quality of character and recognisability
within its sonic parameters as a work of art in sound then it’s
‘up, up and away to infinity’ as far as performance duration
is concerned. If you substitute your eyes for your ears, then all conceptual
and almost all practical arguments on this subject are dissolved.
In any case, the intriguing nature of the piece played in a reasonably
practical span of just over half an hour means that it is no harder
to consume than, say, one of Messiaen’s cycles. The musical content
is by no means as static as you might expect either, with fascinating
contrasts of colour and texture to go along with the remarkable and
sometimes chilling effects of stops half opened or being squeezed shut
slowly, with the resultant deflating bagpipe effects also beloved of
György Ligeti, Keith Jarrett and
Tilo
Medek. I’ve had a look at the score and I’m not sure
how much of this is down to the interpreters - it doesn’t seem
to be one of Cage’s performance requirements, but I love the sound
anyway so who cares. These effects and the ways they are achieved are
explained at length by Gary Verkade in his talk at the end of the DVD.
Some of “The Harmony of Maine” (Supply Belcher) is
a sequence of 13 movements which refer to 18
th century psalm
tunes, something he was occupied with at the time. Cage’s treatments
remove some notes and extend others as well as adapting the meter of
Belcher’s music, but the more apparent element of this confluence
of the ancient and the modern are the hymn-like harmonies which frequently
pop out, taking our expectations of angular melody and dissonance by
surprise. There is some more visual relief in this piece from the DVD,
with interior views of the church and some of its art works. This is
a sequence of pieces which will either draw you in and fascinate through
its filtering of the old into new vessels, or will drive you up the
wall with its constant return to fundamental harmonic intervals which
are never allowed to develop conventionally. As ever with Cage, it is
up to us to ditch our pre-programmed expectations, and allow his uncompromisingly
purposeful and consistent language to take us on its own journey.
By comparison with the previous monumental pieces,
Souvenir is
like finding an extra sweet in your bag when you thought you’d
finished them. It harks back to forms found in some of Cage’s
earlier piano pieces, and with nicely shaped melodic phrases and only
mildly gruff interjections of low clusters, this smaller work has at
times an almost medieval, even meditative feel.
ASLSP was originally written for piano, and has a more restrained
feel than
Organ²/ASLSP, lacking the pedal part, though comparable
effects arise from those shifting stops. Watching
4:33 feels
almost as silly as performing it, and seeing the track lasts
6:16
also made me chuckle. This is something everyone should however do at
home now and again. Stop and hear the concert going on around and within
you all the time.
Gary Verkade’s little talk on the DVD has some nice personal anecdotes
and is highly enlightening on the music in this recording, another very
good reason for choosing the DVD over the CD version of this release.
Of the competition in this field this version comes out pretty much
on top, and certainly beats all comers when it comes to completeness.
Gerd Zacher’s 29:25 performance of
Organ²/ASLSP is
available as a download and is one of those real bargains if you are
after a superb duration per penny ratio. Zacher’s instrument is
however set in a rather dry acoustic, and I don’t prefer it to
Verkade’s. There’s a recording of
Souvenir on the
New Albion label, NA074CD, with organist Christoph Maria Moossmann emphasising
the mysterious and stretching the piece to 10:55 on an instrument which
also seems to be being encouraged to manufacture microtones to a far
greater extent in Verkade’s - that or it’s just horrendously
out of tune. With the remarkable instrument at Gary Verkade’s
disposal I can’t imagine these recordings being bettered any time
soon, whatever your opinion on some or all of the music.
Dominy Clements
