AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by the Avant-Garde Composer JOHN CAGE to Henry Cowell's widow SYDNEY COWELL mentioning the Japanese Composer Kuniharu Akiyama compositions by Henry Cowell and indirectly referring to his own compositions "Renga" and "Apartment House 1776".
100977<p>New York October 14 1976. 1976. Very good. - Over 110 words penned in two columns on his personal 7 inch high by 8-1/2 inch wide ruled "Message/Reply" stationery. John Cage writes to Sydney Cowell Henry Cowell's widow about Henry Cowell's compositions "Recv enclosed letter from my Japanese composer friend. Located piece in Ms. at Lincoln Center. It is actually 2 pieces called Set of Two but one was too difficult and the other was recorded in Japan under the title Prelude for Vn & Hapschd. I have given Kuniharu Akiyama's address to Mr. Jackson." He goes on to indirectly refer to his own compositions "Renga" and "Apartment House 1776" which were performed in Boston: "The Boston piece went very well. Seiji was marvelous. Now must wk with Boulez on it. Singers were great." Signed "John". There are minor annotations along the top edge in an unidentified hand and staple holes at top left. Else near fine.</p><p>John Cage's compositions "Renga" and "Apartment House 1776" were performed simultaneously by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa on September 29 1976. Boulez performed the works with the New York Philharmonic on November 5th of that year.</p><p>The Japanese avant-garde composer Kuniharu Akiyama 1929-1996 was also a music critic and a poet. He was a founding member of the Jikken Kobo group of avant-garde artists.</p><p>The American avant-garde composer John Cage 1912-1992 was a pioneer in electroacoustic music and the unconventional use of instruments. An artist and music theorist he was Merce Cunningham's lover and influential in the development of modern dance. Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg were both his teachers.</p><p>Henry Cowell's wife Sidney Robertson Cowell 1903-1995 was a pianist and an American ethnomusicologist and collector of folk songs.</p> New York, October 14, 1976.
