information for a dissertation

[Charles E Faulk]

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002 11:06:14 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) Charles Neuman
<piano@charlesneuman.net> writes:
> Charles E Faulk <cfaulk2@juno.com> wrote:
> > In the same vein, if Cage is being performed a lot this year, I 
> hope
> > there will be many performances of his masterpiece, "11minutes, 33
> > seconds". A little humor, maybe?

I think I got the title of this particular piece wrong. It should read
"7minutes, 33 seconds". If memory serves me, this was part of a larger
Cage work where the pianist sits at the piano, closes the fallboard, and
observes total silence for that period of time.

I was just looking at a photo of a prepared piano this morning. Slivers
of wood jammed in between the three stings of a unison, screws of various
shapes and sizes (many large enough to seriously impede the working of a
split damper), plastic spoons wedged into the strings. Many of Cage's
works are significant, the Sonatas and Interludes, the Piano Concerto,
but at what expense to the piano. 
> 
> Should the artist bring his or her own piano for that performance? 
> :)
> 
> Seriously though, as a pianist who likes this kind of music and who 
> is
> also learning to tune and repair pianos, I am interested in this 
> subject.
> I think it would be great if someone could put together a 
> publication or
> website that would explain some of the issues involved. For example, 
> would
> plastic or teflon screws be better for the strings than metal? And 
> would
> it be possible to strum the strings in a performance if a technician 
> was
> on hand to clean the strings afterwards? It would be nice if this 
> kind of
> music could be performed safely on nice instruments. As for cymbals
> crashing on the strings and the like, I agree there's a limit and 
> that
> artists should be told to bring their own instruments in such cases.
> 
> Charles
> 
> 

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