We are, I suspect, in danger of approaching John Cage too reverentially. He is, of course, one of the great anarchists of 20th-century culture, and his immersion in oriental philosophy is often cited as evidence of his seriousness of purpose. We should remember, however, that the Zen masters, with whom he is often compared, were regularly depicted falling about with laughter, and that Cage's anarchy is mixed with joy, playfulness and a teasing sense of fun.
On the last day of the BBC's Cage weekend, the anarchic joy was intermittent. The final concert opened with a gleeful music theatre piece. Frances M Lynch and Nicole Tibbels were a pair of undecorous divas vying for the attentions of pianist Rolf Hind. Cage's insistence on textual improvisation allowed Lynch to address one riotous number to "the heaviness of Betty Boothroyd and J-Lo's bum". Yet the fun was later drowned in solemnity as the BBC Symphony and Pierre-André Valadé took over for performances of the Largo from Lou Harrison's Fourth Symphony and Morton Feldman's lugubrious Cello and Orchestra, with Paul Watkins as soloist.
The London Sinfonietta's concert, meanwhile, proved a strait-laced affair. Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat gave a svelte performance of Cage's Concerto for Prepared Piano, although Apartment House 1776, a jubilant cacophony that interweaves 44 US hymn tunes, seemed po-faced when it should have been ebullient.
The best concert of the day, however, was the lunchtime gig at LSO St Luke's. Sections of Cage's Sonatas for Prepared Piano - rooted in oriental aesthetics - were interwoven with unaccompanied choral music, anchoring Cage in a uniquely US musical tradition that links spirituality with musical experimentation. The BBC Symphony Chorus negotiated its way through Ives's bi-tonal harmonies and Alan Hovhaness's snazzy east-European rhythms. Hind was the soloist again, perfectly judging the flickering, gamelan-based inflections of the sonatas as well as communicating the joy Cage felt in creating sounds both unique and new.
