Bacchanale (1940)

Bacchanale was Cageʼs first work for prepared piano, composed in response to a request for a “dance accompaniment” by fellow faculty member at the Cornish School, Syvilla Fort. As per Fortʼs request for a work with an African “inflection,” Cage intended to write a piece for percussion ensemble. However, given that the performance space was too small to accommodate a battery of percussion instruments, and that he had only a traditional grand piano with which to work, he began experimenting with objects placed inside the piano – under and between its strings – attempting to alter its sounds. The final preparations are quite simple: weather-stripping, pieces of rubber, and screws and bolts. The prepared piano became a signal instrument for Cage. Years later, in 1949, after the N.Y. premiere of his magnus opus for the instrument, Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48), Cage received citations from both the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Academy of Arts and Letters for having “extended the boundaries of music.“

Bacchanale is included in the Edition Peters compilation Prepared Piano Music 1940-47, Vol. 1.