Author: DHRmusic

John Cage was one of the 20th Centuries most innovative experimental composers who’s genius bought through such compositions as 4 minutes 33 and his “Constructions” one of Cages favourite compositional mechanisms was the prepared piano. Long before the first synthesisers he explored the possibilities of electronic sound sources using turntables and oscillators, pushing the boundaries of what many people might interpret music to be. It is for this reason that to this day, even after his death, John Cage remains a highly controversial figure in the world of Music.

In this blog I am going to do a quick write up of what I discovered from listening to his “First Construction in Metal” composed in 1939. I could not find a score online so what little that I picked op on is from watching a score on youtube as the music was being performed. With my memory, that causes limitations in itself!

In John Cages first construction I hear a certain theme played on the strings of a piano. After 4 bars the Oxem bells join in. The thunder sheet is struck at the very beginning just to capture our attention. After 8 bars we get two bars of break from the melody played on brake drums, Turkish cymbals and orchestral bells. We then hear the phrase or melody come back and joined by the muted gongs John Cage has added a bar on to the phrase with the muted gongs. At letter A we hear a different and augmented phrase with the use of quintuplets which lasts for four bars. The main line then returns in the fifth bar of A. The phrases are always four bars long and I can make out about 16 different motifs. John Cage has taken a mathematical approach usings phrases and groups of phrases to form the structure of his music each section is about 16 bars in length and is built using 4 bar motifs.

at C John Cage has produced a fantastic effect by lowering a gong in to water. This achieves a warping effect on the gong sound that provides an eerie feel. Something I would like to explore in my composing as a representative of wind or something spooky a mind twists and turns out of focus in to something dark and un-settling.

During Section C there is a very un-settling feeling of something wrong happening and on the 5th bar of D there is a slide on the piano strings, a spooky glissando of chaos. This is the kind of thing I wouldn’t be surprised to hear on a horror programme! the fact that John Cage can produce that effect with such “instruments” is a testament to his genius. Before H we hear a refrain of the original phrase and the unsettled feeling has eased. Business as usual, perhaps? the chaos of the human brain. 16 bars before M I really like. It has a driving feeling almost like a preparing for battle. I think this is due to the well placed accents and driving beats played on the other instruments at the first of the bar. The piece finished with a diminuendo and down to a halt. It’s almost like the end of a nightmare. The morendo and diminuendo at the end settles the mind and it’s back to the silence.

Whilst on Holiday, I listened to a stunningly mesmerising piece of music called “Lake of Tenderness” (Lacus Lenitatis) This piece evokes a real sense of zen. The beautifully contemporary chords remind me of the progressions used by Morten Laurdisen in his tranquil meditation “O Magnum Mysterium.”

The piece starts with a faint percussion effect, created by a contrasting vibraphone and marimba gliss. In the second bar the cornets announce a chord of Bb whilst the back row cornets drone the notes F and C. These notes are the dominant of the Bb and the composer avoided using the medient (A) to avoid the clash with the Bb chord. The repiano starts the tantalising I-V pattern which occurs throughout the composition. This creates a delicate and sensitive pulse throughout the piece and utilises the hierarchy of beats.

The next bar progresses on to an F sus 2. This highlights the G which is going to come along as the dominant of C (the key the piece is written in) in the introduction the music is scored lightly as to ease us in to the feeling of tenderness. The dynamic is a polite piano and crescendos no louder than Mezzo Piano in an embrace wave of warm sound. it’s a musical hug!

Rehearsal mark “A” welcomes section A. This is an ensemble with a subtle melody performed on 2 Euphoniums. The Harmony is built as the chord of F/D for two bars before progressing on to an Amsus4 (includes the D which is the third of the Bbsus2)up to the Bbsus2, to the Gm7 (dominant of C) which takes us to Csus4. the 4th of the C is the F which ends the phrase as a luxurious F9 chord. The music is scored quite thickly at this point and the dynamic is Mezzo Forte which builds a slight sense of excitement before returning back to the peaceful B section which introduces a simple and lyrical cornet solo.

At Section B (rehearsal mark B) we hear the first melody played as a cornet solo. The scoring is minimal and the Solo horn takes over the I-V pulse. The scoring is so reduced so that the cornet can be heard clearly over the accompaniment. The harmony whilst still contemporary is much less reduced. Hollings has only written the crucial notes of each chord.

at rehearsal mark C we hear a extended refrain from the introduction except Ben has added depth by using the Bb bass in a lower register. This adds a refreshing contrast to the reprise whilst still remaining subtle and un-offensive. The trombone takes over the melody and the soprano highlights the melody – adding a little zest to the trombone sound. An exciting mechanism that I would be interested to explore. The key still remains ambiguous as Ben Hollings explores the relative A minor in bar 24. With the use of the Bbsus6/F we hear the G which brings us back on track in to the dominant major key. In the last 4 bars of D the reprise has been extended to bridge us in to D.

At rehearsal mark D we are taken right back own to the most minimal scoring. there is a recurring theme of building and fading, as in the pulse of the I-V figures played throughout the piece. This is a nod to the movement of the water in a lake as it ripples through its existence. As the soprano takes over the I-V-I figure in bar 40 the listener can sense that something big is about to build. The band builds using the similar progression as the introduction to its climax at letter E.

In letter E the band is in a forte. The cornets play the melody In tutti. Another mechanism Ben Hollings Used that I really like is the alternating notes played in the euphonium section. This adds to the pulse. The band is not to force this part out as sostenuto and legato are instructed. The horn section takes over the I-V-I pattern just before the band decrescendos 4 bars before F.

At letter F the harmony is reduced and only the cornets voice the whole chord as a section. As the harmony dies out some more so does the complexity of the chords. the end of the piece we hear a C/F chord only played from the baritones down. a solitary image of the moon, as the composer mentions.

In order to explore different methods of contrapuntal diversions I have analysed two Fugues written by J.S. Bach. This is the second fugue I have analysed.


The subject of the fugue is played on its own to start with. This is followed in bar 3 with an imitation transposed to G major. A second phrase is introduced just before bar 4 in beats 3 & 4 of the third bar. The second phrase is augmented through bar 7 and 8. This second phrase is played over the first phrase which is another augmentation of the subject which starts on beat 2 of bar 5.

The newly augmented subject plays through bars 9-13. The second phrase is then added to bar 13 which answers the newly augmented subject as previously discussed. The subject makes a return in beat 2 of bar 13 and is transposed in to A (as represented by the use of G# and F# and the occasional C#) The left hand in beat 4 of bar 13 and bar 14 replicates or “imitates” the right hand from bars 5 and 6. With the augmented addition of extra beats rest in bar 15. The subject that started in bar 13 repeats the developed idea from before until we see the introduction of a completely new idea in bar 17 on the top line of the music which is played over a diminished imitation of the original subject in the left hand.


In bar 19 we see where the subject is diminished the reduced subject allows a transition in to a new rhythmic pattern which uses both quavers and semi quavers to provide an audibly pleasant contrast. in Bar 20 the first half of bar 19 is repeated and transposed down a tone in bar 20 and then repeated as it forms it’s own new musical pattern. This new pattern is then augmented at bar 22 before bar 23 imitates bar 19 but is transposed down in order to modulate through to the next bar. Bar 23 is then repeated and transposed down further by a tone in to B minor. In bar 25 we have modulated on to the dominant G. Beats 3 and 4 of bar 25 are then inverted which brings us back to the original subject played in bar 26. The two lines we hear are the subject and the subject which has been completely inverted until the last two beats of bar 28.

In beats 3 and 4 of bar 28 we hear a repetition of the phrase from bar 19. This is a diminished version of the subject. However the left hand is performing the long augmented phrase that we heard back in bars 5 – 8. the right hand in bars 29-33 echo from bar 9. He has taken the rhythmic figure from bars 9-11 and transposed it to start on the G or the Dominant.

From bar 33 we hear two lines being played as an inversion (just as in bars 26-28) Only the phrase is diminished until it finished on bear 2 of 34. In beats 3 and 4 we hear a return of the diminished subject which is then reduced even further in the right hand in bar 35 which modulates throughout bar 35 before finally finishing on a perfect cadence of the Dominant 7 to the Tonic.