Slow Cage
The composition “3rd Construction” by John Cage, whose 111th birthday is celebrated this year, is a fundamental building block of contemporary percussion culture. Almost 100 years ago, Cage not only inspired many musicians and composers with his ideas on composition, instrumentation, and concept, but also contributed significantly to the understanding of percussion music.
The main aspect of “Slow Cage” is, as the title suggests, tempo. John Cage's “3rd Construction” is slowed down from 15 to 40 minutes so that the breadth of sound and the intermediate tones of this composition can unfold in a completely new way and the piece thus develops in a wonderfully abstract direction. However, the slow playing increases the difficulty of the interpretation immensely. Even the smallest coordination errors become evident, the dynamics between the individual voices become elementary. The program will also be supplemented by four new compositions by the participating percussionists, Fritz Hauser, Camille Emaille, Johannes Fischer, and Peter Conradin Zumthor.
Tickets are CHF 15-35, CHF 10 for holders of Colourkey, and free for kids under age 12.
Website
garedunord.ch/en/calendar/2729/slow-cage
Where
Gare du Nord
Schwarzwaldallee 200
4058 Basel