The Selected Letters of John Cage. John Cage

electronic music of the future.

      In replacing the instruments taken by Miss Deja, the initial expense would be $150.00, toward which Dr. Fuller and Mrs. Stimson have each contributed $25.00. In order to avoid any further interruption of this work, it has been agreed upon by the Cornish School that these instruments when acquired shall belong to me, as I am the only one in the country active in this field. For this reason, if you see fit to sponsor this work, please make checks payable to me, care of the Cornish School, Roy at Harvard North, as I am on the School’s faculty.

      In these uncertain days I feel it is exceedingly important to make music wherever it is yet possible. We shall, this coming year, present as many concerts as possible, and shall also take the group on tour to the University of Idaho, Reed College in Portland, and other cultural centers.

      To Charles Ives³⁹

       [1939] | The Cornish School, Seattle

      I am enclosing some programs of percussion music which we have given. Do you have any scores which use mostly percussion? Or would you be interested in writing a score for percussion? I have at present 11 players; our next program will include works by Roldan, Cowell, Harrison, Russell (his Fugue) and Beyer. Also Couper. It would be very fine indeed if could we perform some of your work here.

      To Archie N. Jones

       November 20, 1939 | Location not indicated

      Dear Mr. Jones:

      I have your letter of last spring telling of your interest in presenting one of our percussion concerts in Moscow.⁴⁰ I am at present planning a tour to take place in January. We are to be in Walla Walla, Whitman College, Thursday, January 11th, and in Portland, Reed College, Saturday, January 13th. Because of the fact that I am arranging to take the group on one tour, it is possible to offer a reduced fee of $75.00 for each concert. If the University could arrange to have the concert anytime Friday the 12th between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., it would be possible for us to offer the same reduced fee.

      This summer I gave a very successful concert at Mills College, under the auspices of the Bennington School of the Dance. The program we are offering now would be similar to the one given there. It would use 4 players and about 70 instruments. The players, with the exception of my wife, are all members of the Cornish Faculty. We would present a varied program of works by Gerald Strang, William Russell, Henry Cowell, Franziska Boas, J. M. Beyer, Mildred Couper, Lou Harrison and myself.

      I look forward to your reply, and hope that it will be possible for the University to schedule our group.

      To Peter Yates⁴¹

       January 13, 1940 | 228 17th Avenue, San Francisco

      Dear Peter:

      You are very good not to be angry about this article business; I appreciate it very much. I also appreciate it that your interest in the work is still alive. I have been doing some research now and then to make the article as authoritative as I can, exact in details, etc. But every time I write it or rather start to write it I know that I’m not a writer. In other words, I’m having great trouble trying to put what I want to say into words. How soon must you have it? Naturally I’ll get it out as fast as I can, but when is the deadline? Maybe I am disconcerted by all the trouble I’m seeing trying to get established with an income. Looks now as though I may get a job in recreation work making an application of the percussion work to that field. Gebrauchsmusik. Pretty near to what you want me to write. True? If so, that is if I get the job, there will be a flood of easy percussion music written for things that exist in the everyday world all around us.

      To Peter Yates

       Thursday [1940] | Location not indicated

      Dear Peter:

      Just to let you know that I am busy on some music for you. So far it has the title Living Room Music.⁴² Requires 4 players who play on whatever is around and who speak in some movements. Speaking sections would be better if 8 people double up on parts. I have finished first 2 movements and there are to be 3 more. I have taken the liberty of inviting Lou Harrison to write some music of this type too.⁴³ Also Henry Cowell. I am testing the pieces out with my group here and will therefore be able to give rather detailed advice about performance.

      To Henry Cowell

       August 8, 1940 | 228 17th Avenue, San Francisco

      Dear Henry:

      Thanx for the card. I am sorry that I didn’t let you know about using the quotation for the program. I had used it on a program in Seattle also. It comes from one of your letters to me, and I am glad that you seem to agree with it. It is very quotable and straight-forward. I am glad to hear that Grainger would like to send some scores for percussion.⁴⁴ The address above would be the correct one.

      And now for the story about the “center of experimental music.” The first thing I spoke about to Dr. Cassidy, early this summer, was to present the idea as you had suggested it to me. Then began the trouble with the strike, getting players, rehearsals, etc. In the midst of this I presented the idea to Marian Van Tuyl.⁴⁵ Both were interested. But busy. I had also before the summer session spoken to Russell and to Lou about it.⁴⁶ Russell is very worried about his future, and said that he would like to be in the “center,” but because of the necessity to get a job would apply everywhere for jobs, which he is doing. Lou said that he wanted to leave Mills, since he does not get on well with Marian Van Tuyl, and since he wanted very much to work with Lester Horton.⁴⁷ However, when I told Lou that I had brought the matter up with Dr. Cassidy, he said that he might stay on at Mills, providing they raised his salary. I made it clear throughout that I was not asking for Lou’s position, that should he remain at Mills as his presence would strengthen the work of the “center” rather make it troublesome. This was the state of affairs when work descended on everybody and made other things remote. In the course of the percussion rehearsals and dance rehearsals, I found it somewhat difficult to work with Lou and with Russell for different reasons: nothing that caused great troubles, but a general lack of efficiency which arises from a democratic set-up. Russell is not a very good player which makes rehearsals with him difficult. I also feel that his present preoccupation with hot jazz disconnected from his own composition has not been good for him as a composer. I know that these personal difficulties will seem silly to you, but in dealing with a group of people, the compatibility of the entire group is very important in order to get things accomplished quickly and easily. For this reason I believe that in establishing a “center” there should be one director rather than three, that there should be as many “centers” as there are directors.

      The actual concert was made more difficult and yet more interesting to rehearse through the experiments in moving lights and varieties of levels which Gordon Webber of the School of Design made.⁴⁸

      The concert was well-received, and the publicity we received welcome and I think good. I was particularly glad to have been able to present the Ardevol Suite. In the performance the first two movements were played excellently. Unfortunately the third, the Fugue, went completely wrong. I was very sorry, but one cannot change that. The rest of the concert was played well, and three encores were given.

      Then came the composing for the dance concerts and the rehearsals.

      Finally, when I had a chance to breathe I brought the matter of the “center” up again with Dr. Cassidy. She arranged an interview with Marian (who is very anxious that I should stay at Mills) and with Dr. Reinhardt⁴⁹ and the dean of the faculty, Dr. Rusk. At that meeting I presented an outline of the project, which I am enclosing, a list of the achievements in the field so far plus scores and a portfolio of letters. Dr. Reinhardt was very interested in the project and particularly in the development of electronic music. She has written letters to RCA, Bell, and General Electric. And suggested letters to Guggenheim and Carnegie Corp. which I wrote. She arranged a second meeting with Luther Marchand in order to get his OK to the project, which he gave. So this is how it stands now.

      Mills