PREPARED PIANO

In E = MC², we see embedded the name of Albert Einstein. In every angle of the geodesic dome are Buckminster Fuller’s initials. The strings of the prepared piano vibrate the letters J-O-H-N-C-A-G-E.

John Cage devised the instrument in the late 1930s, when he was commissioned to compose music for a dance piece. He originally wrote for percussion instruments, but the performance area was too small to accommodate an ensemble. The room had a piano, though, on which he pondered the possibilities.

The ancients conceived the gryphon, a creature part-lion and part-eagle, but neither lion nor eagle. Cage fitted the strings of the piano with bolts, rubber stops and screws to replicate percussion sounds, creating an instrument that was neither percussion nor wholly piano.

The absence of available space gave the prepared piano its place in the world.

Joel Allegretti