Five



Category: Musical composition
Dated: January 1988
Instrumentation: Five voices or instruments or voices and instruments
Duration: 5'
Premiere and performer(s):
Dedicated to: Wilfried Brennecke and the Wittener Tage
Choreography: ---
Published: Edition Peters 67214 © 1988 by Henmar Press
Manuscript: Draft (holograph in ink - 2 lv.); Worksheet (holograph sketch in ink - 1 lf.), both in New York Public Library.


One of Cage's early number pieces, which was composed for the 1988 Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik.
Pitches and dynamics are set, but the instrumentation is free, provided one can play or sing the tones in the proper ranges. There is no overall score but just 5 single parts, each consisting of 5 lines and each line containing a maximum of 3 notes, placed in a system using time-brackets.