This is a memento of an extraordinary occasion – John Cage’s last concert appearance on July 23rd, 1992, in the Summerstage outdoor series held in New York’s Central Park. It nearly failed to take place as a result of torrential rain. Some of the announcements are included, along with the three works performed here, and the applause demonstrates the warmth with which Cage was received.
Joan La Barbara, an old hand at Cage, has already recorded Eight Whiskuson a varied CD of Cage’s vocal works with the same percussionist, while the pianist, Leonard Stein, is also the Schoenberg authority. The version here lasts less than five minutes and, as Cage warned La Barbara when he wrote it for her in 1984, it contains four-letter words in the text. Music for Three is one of a series of pieces for various groups defined by the number of players involved, some already recorded: this version lasts just over ten minutes.
The major part of the CD is the premiere of Four, specially composed for the occasion and lasting almost half an hour. The three players joined by Cage had to choose 12 different sounds, including their own voices, and perform these within the time-scale provided. This is vintage Cage, naturally beyond criticism at this Last Supper of the American avant-garde, and there is perceptible interaction between the performers. The pace is leisurely; the unexpected is expected; and – which is not always the case in Cage performances – the amount of activity justifies the time-scale.
You would hardly know this was an outside event from this recording, which everyone interested in Cage will want to possess.'