This product is sold brand new. A manufacturer warranty applies only when the manufacturer provides one for this item.
Return requests must be submitted within 14 days of delivery and approved by our RMA department before the item is shipped back. Non-defective returns may be subject to a minimum 25% restocking fee and return shipping charges. Unauthorized returns are not eligible for credit or refund. Read the full return policy.
for solo piano
Deciphered and transcribed by eminent pianist Margaret Leng Tan from the 1944 painting--held since then by a private collector--created by Cage for the Duchamp/Ernst exhibition, 'The Imagery of Chess.' Says Tan,"'Having been hidden in plain sight for over half a century, the question, 'What does it sound like?', was irresistible."
From Ms. Tan's liner notes of her recording, on Mode Records 158: "Embedded like a musical fossil within the sixty-four squares of the 19x19 inch chessboard that comprises 'Chess Pieces' is...a through-composed score consisting of 22 systems of music read conventionally from left to right. Each system is a self-contained musical unit of 12 bars....There is no specific instrumentation given in either the draft manuscript or the painting. [Therefore] the piece could just as easily be played by two instruments....Neither tempo nor dynamics are provided. 'Chess Pieces'' modal and diatonic canvas is akin to Cage's 'Four Walls'....However 'Chess Pieces' is abstract and dispassionate while 'Four Walls' is emotionally fraught.'
This product is sold brand new. A manufacturer warranty applies only when the manufacturer provides one for this item.
Return requests must be submitted within 14 days of delivery and approved by our RMA department before the item is shipped back. Non-defective returns may be subject to a minimum 25% restocking fee and return shipping charges. Unauthorized returns are not eligible for credit or refund. Read the full return policy.