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Work Title Hymns and Variations |
Date Composed in 1979. Premiered in Bonn, June 10, 1979. |
Ensemble Type Vocal |
Work Length Approximately 20 minutes |
Instrumentation For twelve amplified voices. |
Comments For this work, Cage employed harmonic subtractive techniques on two hymns by William Billings: Old North and Heath. Each hymn is treated in this fashion for 5 iterations, resulting in 10 variations. The subtractive techniques are similar to those Cage used in Apartment House 1776 and Quartets I-VIII. The composition makes use of only vowel sounds, which should be sung without vibrato. |
Publication Peters Edition EP 66812 |