CAGE, JOHN - 44 HARMONIES FROM APARTMENT HOUSE 1776 / CHEAP IMITATION (2CD)

Volume 33 of Mode's Complete John Cage Edition. Features 2 long works: "Cheap Imitation" (1977, for solo violin; peformed by Irving Arditti); "44 Harmonies from Apartment House 1776" (1976, for string quartet, performed by Arditti Quartet). World Premiere Recording of "44 Harmonies" which is 103 minutes long. "Irvine Arditti completes his complete traversal of Cage's works for solo violin with 'Cheap Imitation' in this set. In 1969, John Cage transcribed a two piano version of Erik Satie's 1918 music drama 'Socrate' to accompany Merce Cunningham's choreography 'Second Hand'. At the last minute, the French firm that held the copyright to Satie's score refused to allow the performance. With an ingenious rewriting, Cage retained the rhythmical architecture of the musical lines, but replaced each note with a new tonal value, creating a melodically original work with an identical rhythmic structure." (label info)