Piano Prepared, Dream Accomplished

I've long harbored a secret dream. It began as an undergraduate when I first encountered John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano. I was mesmerized by the delicate sounds that were so unlike anything I'd ever heard the piano produce. The work immediately found its way into my honor's thesis, and I began scheming to play it, or another prepared piano work, on my senior recital. Visions of three pianos littering the stage danced in my head: one for my Classical and Romantic requirements, one for an electronic work, and one prepared piano.

I ended up having two pianos on the stage; the prepared piano there in spirit only. I went to graduate school, focused on the academic side of music, and played when and where I could. But still no prepared piano.

Then, last year, I began developing a new course on a few of the American Mavericks - Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, Harry Partch, and John Cage. I came up with the idea of having my students experience Cage's music first-hand by performing it in a Musicircus. Here was my chance, I could finally prepare a piano and perform the Sonatas and Interludes.

If you aren't familiar with the prepared piano, here's your quick and dirty introduction: In 1938, Cage was asked to write music for a dance. At the time he was mainly composing for percussion orchestra, so he planned to continue that trend. But when he showed up at the theatre, it was tiny. The stage would barely hold a piano. So he began putting things inside the piano. Eventually, in later works, the items grew to include screws, bolts, nuts, pieces of weather stripping, pennies, and even an eraser.

Preparing the piano takes a long time, as Cage was initially very specific about the sounds he wanted, but I had a blast putting things between the strings of the piano. I felt like I was playing hooky from my job and vandalizing a piano to boot. Piano prepared, dream almost accomplished. Now it just waits for me to play it next week. I'll keep you updated.