Tossed As It Is Untroubled (Meditation)



Category: Musical composition
Dated: Late 1943
Instrumentation: Prepared piano
Duration: 2'30"
Premiere and performer(s): April 5, 1944 at the Studio Theatre in New York City
Dedicated to: Valerie Bettis
Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Published: Edition Peters 6722 © 1960 by Henmar Press
Manuscript: Score including table of preparations (holograph, signed, in ink - 2 p.); unused title page (holograph, signed, in ink - 1 lf.) both at New York Public Library


The original title of the piece is Meditation. The dance was called Tossed as it is untroubled. It is a lively dance piece in a periodic rhythm written in a rhythmic structure 7 times 7. The piece is almost completely monophonic, consisting of a single melody.