‘John Cage and the Concert for Piano and Orchestra’ Web Apps: Solo for Piano and Concert Player.

Abstract

‘John Cage and the Concert for Piano and Orchestra’ was an AHRC-funded project led by Philip Thomas and Martin Iddon at the Universities of Huddersfield and Leeds. The project encompasses a book publication (also reviewed in this issue) as well as performances, recordings, a website, an international conference and two web apps. The Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957–58) is a formidable and complex piece. It comprises several possible simultaneous solos, each with its own notations: Solo for Piano (63 pages of 146 notations of 84 types) and orchestral solos (12 or 16 pages). The instructions for performance allow for any combination of instruments, and any number and combination of pages and notations of the score. The project, including the apps, provides insights into the possibilities for future performances of the piece as well as the understanding of the work through its notations and performance. In an online demonstration, Thomas explained that one of the best ways to understand the piece is through playing it, which is not always possible; this is where the apps are extremely useful. The Solo for Piano app, designed by Christopher Melen, is a notation-based app which enables the user to explore the notations for the piano as well as their limits. Whereas the Concert Player app, designed by Stuart Mellor, allows users to hear the Concert for Piano and Orchestra in many different combinations which can be randomised or chosen manually. Both apps are currently in an advanced Beta stage of development. They are intuitive and easy to use with in-depth guides, and as web apps they are accessible on any device. The apps will interest performers, composers, musicologists, students, professionals, and nonprofessionals. For example, I explored the apps as a composer interested in the notations and their flexibility, as well as the many sonic combinations and interpretations. As an amateur performer, I could use the apps to create my own realisations to play by myself or with other musicians. The Solo for Piano app allows the user to explore each type of notation of the Solo for Piano score and their variants. I played with each notation, starting from A, to get an idea of the different types of notations involved in the piece. As I have no current access to a piano, I tried some of my realisations on a keyboard app. I found that the notations requiring the most performance preparation were most fun as they had the most interactivity, e.g. notations A and G. For better clarity and understanding, each notation is digitally transcribed, but the original is visible in the notation information. In the app, each notation’s page displays the instructions for the notation, a transcription and an interactive realisation. Some notations are more fixed than others and are therefore not interactive, e.g. notation C. As the instructions are often ambiguous, the notation information provides further comments about the notation and how to interact with it through the app. The app offers one representation of the notation, and if other representations are possible, this is noted in the information panel. Despite this, the app gives the user a chance to make their own decisions on interpretation. In the Solo for Piano app, the user can change realisations in response to the instructions and explore the notation’s limits. The notation of the realisation is displayed in two modes: Analysis Mode shows the relationship between the transcription and the realisation, and Performance Mode presents a playable version of the notation in Analysis Mode. It is possible to manually change the spelling of notes, display randomised dynamics, and drag notes and dynamics to make the score look more presentable. Furthermore, notations in Performance Mode can be heard through MIDI playback with an adjustable duration. Extended techniques cannot be replicated through MIDI, however it gives the user a sense of the order of pitches/sounds over specified durations. Realisations can then be printed and, once the app is fully developed, the user can save the