New York City Ballet

Sonatas and Interludes

Choreography by: Richard Tanner

Music by: John Cage

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Credits

Music: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1960)
Premiere: April 12, 1982, Eglevsky Ballet, Long Island, New York
NYC Ballet Premiere: May 5, 1988, American Music Festival, New York State Theater
Original Cast: Heather Watts, David Moore
NYC Ballet Original Cast: Heather Watts, Jock Soto
Length: 13 Min.
Costumes by: Carole Divet
Lighting by: Mark Stanley

Working their way through five piano pieces by John Cage, two dancers unfold through the fluid yet crisp movements of this quirky pas de deux.

Richard Tanner created Sonatas and Interludes for the Eglevsky Ballet in 1982, and the work entered the repertory of New York City Ballet during the 1988 American Music Festival. The ballet is set to five pieces from John Cage’s "Sonatas and Interludes", a 20 piece collection of music composed for prepared piano between 1946 and 1948. The term prepared piano refers to a concept developed by Cage around 1938, in which the composer experimented with changing a piano’s sound by inserting bits of wood, paper, screws, or other objects between or on the strings at various points to produce a more percussive sound. Instructions, either written or described in diagrams, are given in the front of the score in minute detail.

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