Lists of
John Cage
's works will not reveal pieces called "Music for Three" or "Music for One," but the selections on this album are drawn from
Music For
(sometimes known as
Music for [...]
), composed in the mid-'80s. This is an interesting work that prefigures the so-called
Number Pieces
of
Cage
's last years, which reduce the composer's choices to short bits of music organized into what
called time brackets and possible to combine in many ways. Here, there are 17 parts, which can be combined in any number, from solo to the entire ensemble; the time bracket technique is also used here. The flexibility allows the creation of a horn trio, a genre uncommon in 20th century music, with examples only by
Ligeti
and a few other composers. The initiative of the performers consists partly in selecting from among the 17 parts those that would interact interestingly with the horn; physical album buyers will benefit from the enthusiastic discussion among the players in the booklet. There are three "Music for Three" selections and three "Music for One" solo performances. What one will think of all this is likely to depend on one's attitude toward
, in general, and his very free late work in particular, but this is an intriguing performance of a pivotal work in
's career, with excellent sound from a WDR studio in Germany. ~ James Manheim