| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | June 14, 1953 (1' 5½" for a String Player); June 28, 1953 (1' 1½" for a String Player); June 29, 1953 (1' 18" for a String Player); June 30, 1953 (1' 14" for a String Player); New York City, May 1953 (57½" for a String Player); The final version of the work is dated (on page C): Stony Point, N.Y., August-September 1955, with the assistance from David Tudor which is gratefully acknowledged |
| Instrumentation: | for any 4-stringed instrument or any combination of 2 or more |
| Duration: | Indeterminate |
| Premiere and performer(s): | |
| Dedicated to: | for Broadus Earle (1' 5½" for a String Player); for Matthew Raimondi (1' 1½" for a String Player); for Seymour Barab (1' 18" for a String Player); for Walter Trampler (1' 14" for a String Player); for June (57½" for a String Player); for Harold Coletta (on page B) |
| Choreography: | --- |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6779 © 1960 by Henmar Press |
| Manuscript: | Notes and calculations (holograph in pencil - 5 lvs.+ 1 envelop. Folder 193); Notes and calculations (holograph in pencil - 104 lvs./153 p. Folder 194); Instructions concerning duplication for publication (holograph in ink - 1 lf. Folder 195); Score of 57½" for a String Player (holograph, photocopy, with emendations in pencil - 6 p. Folder 954); Score (holograph, signed, in ink - 3p. (A, B and C) + 85 p. Folder 955), all in New York Public Library |
| Incorporates 5 earlier works: 57½" for a String Player (p.34-38),
1' 5½" for a String Player (p.39-43),
1' 1½" for a String Player (p.44-48),
1' 18" for a String Player (p.49-53) and
1' 14" for a String Player (p.54-58). All of these pieces may be played alone or in combination and in whole or in part, and segments of the work may be superimposed to create duets, trios, quartets etc. This is a graph piece in actual time where space is equal to a certain amount of time. The rhythmic structure is 3-7-2-5-11. The compositional means were chance operations and the use of imperfections in the paper upon which the work was written. The work is part of The Ten Thousand Things. Sources: Richard Kostelanetz: John Cage writer - previously uncollected pieces ; David Revill: The Roaring Silence; James Pritchett: The Music of John Cage; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; New York Public Library online catalog |