Five3 (1991)

Composed for trombone and string quartet, which here is two violins, viola, and a cello, this is in many ways quite similar to Seven2, which I reviewed a couple of days ago: at 40 minutes, it's one of the longer Number Pieces (eight times longer than all the others Fives); it mostly features dissonant notes played slowly and softly; and the music often gives way to stretches of silence.

In many of his Number Pieces, Cage draws attention to what would often be seen as accidental, imperfect elements of the sounds. Here, the strings are played so quietly, and the notes held for such long times, that we often have a chance to hear the notes wobble - not vibrato, but just the natural imperfections of human playing - and the even the sound of the bows scraping on the strings. I love Cage's focus on these kinds of subtle variations because it makes the music feel so much more vital and organic.

Also, I wonder if this focus on imperfection was one way Cage resolved the tension in the ideas behind his music. On the one hand, being extremely resistant to the view that music should be a form of expression, he had always endeavoured to remove the voice and emotions of the composer and performers from his music. On the other hand, as he got older, his anarchist social beliefs began to influence his approach to composition, and he wanted to find ways to preserve and respect the individuality of each performer. So the question is: how do you eliminate personal expression while preserving individuality? I will probably talk about this more later, but for now, note that imperfections and accidents are completely unintentional, so they cannot be a form of expression; but because they depend on each person’s way of playing, they also reveal the peculiarities of each musician. Perhaps this explains Cage's preference in the Number Pieces for long-held, very quiet notes.

The strings create a beautiful droney backdrop for the trombone, whose notes are often shorter and louder - indeed, some really blast out. The impression I have is of the strings being a lake, with the imperfections in the notes being ripples on its surface; and the trombone is like large bubbles floating to the surface and bursting.