John Cage - Etudes Australes (1974-1975)

John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. Etudes Australes is a set of etudes for piano solo by John Cage, composed in 1974–75 for Grete Sultan. It comprises 32 indeterminate pieces written using star charts as source material. The etudes, conceived as duets for two independent hands, are extremely difficult to play. They were followed by two more collections of similarly difficult works: Freeman Etudes for violin (1977–90) and Etudes Boreales (1978) for cello, or piano, or both together. Book 1: Etude I - 0:00 Etude II - 3:52 Etude III - 8:14 Etude IV - 12:04 Etude V - 16:06 Etude VI - 20:21 Etude VII - 24:16 Etude VIII - 29:14 Book 2: Etude IX - 33:03 Etude X - 38:00 Etude XI - 42:22 Etude XII - 46:51 Etude XIII - 50:35 Etude XIV - 54:42 Etude XV - 59:52 Etude XVI - 1:04:13 Book 3: Etude XVII - 1:09:52 Etude XVIII - 1:14:55 Etude XIX - 1:20:10 Etude XX - 1:25:04 Etude XXI - 1:30:03 Etude XXII - 1:35:23 Etude XXIII - 1:42:12 Etude XXIV - 1:48:18 Book 4: Etude XXV - 1:54:45 Etude XXVI - 2:01:10 Etude XXVII - 2:07:56 Etude XXVIII - 2:13:25 Etude XXIX - 2:20:15 Etude XXX - 2:27:26 Etude XXXI - 2:34:31 Etude XXXII - 2:41:53 Appendix - 2:46:40 Grete Sultan, piano