Premiera: 22. november 2025 - Stara mestna elektrarna
Glasba: John Cage: Namišljena pokrajina št. 1, Variacije III, V pokrajini, Dva6, Večni tango, Skrivnostna pustolovščina, Glasba za Marcela Duchampa
Koncept projekta: Rok Vevar, Jasmina Založnik
Koreo-režija: Milan Tomášik, Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik
Soustvarjanje in izvedba: Bojana Robinson, Martin Kilvády, Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik in Milan Tomášik
Člani Ansambla Foruma nove glasbe: Nina Prešiček (klavir), Deyan Muc (violina), Urška Rihtaršič (harfa), Alenka Jezernik (tolkala), Jože Bogolin (tolkala), Peter Jeretina (tolkala), Klemen Juvančič (tolkala), Rok Zalokar (elektronika)
Glasbeni izbor: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik in Milan Tomášik
Oblikovanje svetlobe: Borut Bučinel
Oblikovanje prostora: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik, Milan Tomášik in Borut Bučinel
Video: Darko Sintič
Video montaža: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik
Izvršna produkcija: Mojca Prešern Levstek, Društvo UHO
Produkcija: DUM – Društvo umetnikov
Koprodukcija: Nomad Dance Academy Slovenija in Društvo UHO (Forum nove glasbe)
S podporo: Ministrstvo za kulturo RS, Mestna občina Ljubljana, Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, Inotherm d.o.o.
John Cage (1912–1992) je eden redkih skladateljev, katerega vplivi segajo onkraj robov glasbe – morda zato, ker se je sam gibal v različnih umetniških okoljih. Po kratkih študijskih stikih z Arnoldom Schönbergom se je popolnoma zavezal glasbi in pričel je ustvarjati predvsem skladbe za tolkala. Cage je bil zagret za širjenje glasbenega materiala in v tem smislu gre razumeti tudi preparirani klavir – med strune klavirja je vstavil različne predmete, tako da je klavir iz melodično-harmonskega inštrumenta spremenil v tolkalnega. Skladbi Skrivnostna pustolovščina (1945) in Glasba za Marcela Duchampa (1947) sta napisani za preparirani klavir, pri čemer je prva nastala za plesno predstavo Cageevega kasnejšega partnerja Mercea Cunninghama, druga pa za film Hansa Richterja Dreams That Money Can Buy, v katerem so bile sanje Marcela Duchampa opremljene s Cageevo glasbo.
Cage je še bolj radikalno iskal nove zvoke, kar dokazuje Namišljena pokrajina št. 1, ki jo lahko imamo za prvo elektroakustično skladbo. Nastala je kot spremljava za Cocteaujev balet Nevesta in ženin pri Eifflovem stolpu; v skladbi Cage izrablja tehnične pripomočke, ki so bili leta 1939 na voljo v studijskem okolju: gramofonske plošče s posnetimi frekvencami in gramofone s spremenljivo hitrostjo predvajanja.
Cage ni širil samo materialne plati glasbe, temveč tudi »miselno«. Iz vzhodnjaških filozofij je prevzel idejo o nenamembnosti umetnosti, ki ga je vodila k vključevanju naključja v kompozicijski in izvajalski proces oz. do koncepta nedoločenosti, ko se skladatelj vse bolj avtorsko umika iz umetniškega dela. Tipičen primer predstavljajo Variacije III (1962), namenjene »kateremukoli številu izvajalcev, ki izvajajo kakršnekoli akcije«. Partituro predstavljata dve prosojnici s krogi, ki jih je mogoče skorajda poljubno interpretirati kot notni zapis, kar pomeni, da se večji del odgovornosti seli od avtorja k izvajalcem.
Tudi v poznem opusu se je Cage umikal iz kompozicij. Večni tango (1984) sloni na nedokončani skladbi Erika Satieja Športi. Cage je prevzel Satiejev ritem, medtem ko so tonske višine nedoločene, nakazana je le smer gibanja tonskih višin. Zadnji cikel Cageevih skladb so t. i. številčne skladbe – gre za dela, ki nosijo v naslovu številke (prva označuje število glasbenikov in druga zaporedno številko skladbe, namenjene temu številu glasbenikov – skladba Dva6 (1992) je tako šesta v vrsti skladb za dva inštrumenta), hkrati pa številke prevladujejo tudi v notnem zapisu, kjer Cage določa časovni okvir, v katerem mora nastopiti določen zvok, največkrat izoliran dolg ton. Rezultat takšnega principa je glasba, ki se zdi nenavadno mirna v svoji zbranosti in kontemplativnosti.
John Cage je s svojimi radikalnimi umetniškimi idejami močno vplival na razvoj plesne umetnosti kot sodelavec koreografa Mercea Cunninghama in njegovega ansambla ter pri generaciji mladih plesnih umetnic in umetnikov na prehodu med petdesetimi in šestdesetimi leti preteklega stoletja iniciiral reformo plesne proizvodnje, ki je za zmeraj spremenila sodobni ples. Cage Open je koreografsko delo med predstavo, ritualom in procesom, Rauch Podrzavnik in Tomášik sta objekt plesa v njem označila kot »odzivno telo«, s katerim se bo razvijala živa vez s Cageevo filozofijo, artikulirano v znameniti zbirki esejev Tišina: predavanja in zapiski (Silence: Lectures and Writings, 1961). Eno temeljnih Cageevih muzikalnih izhodišč je poslušanje: pogoj glasbe, ki se začne s slišnostjo zvokov, ki so nam vedno na razpolago, ker nas obdajajo. Ta zaznavni negativ proizvodnje se zdi leta 2025 ob količini slepot, molkov in ignoranc v odnosu do globalnih dogodkov v mednarodnem političnem prostoru enako aktualen in radikalen kot leta 1961. »Odzivno telo« koreografskega dela Cage Open bo iniciirano s slušnimi, vidnimi, konceptualnimi in čustvenimi elementi, da umetniki in gledalci skupaj odkrijejo novo v znanem ter (r)evolucionarno v navideznem in očitnem, pravijo ustvarjalci.
Premiere: 22. november 2025 - The Old Power Station
Music: John Cage: Imaginary Landscape No. 1, Variations III, In a Landscape, Two6, The Perpetual Tango, The Mysterious Adventure, Music for Marcel Duchamp
Project concept: Rok Vevar, Jasmina Založnik
Choreo-direction: Milan Tomášik, Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik
Co-creation and performance: Bojana Robinson, Martin Kilvády, Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik and Milan Tomášik
Members of the New Music Forum Ensemble: Nina Prešiček (piano), Deyan Muc (violin), Urška Rihtaršič (harp), Alenka Jezernik (percussion), Jože Bogolin (percussion), Peter Jeretina (percussion), Klemen Juvančič (percussion), Rok Zalokar (electronics)
Music selection: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik and Milan Tomášik
Lighting design: Borut Bučinel
Spatial design: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik, Milan Tomášik and Borut Bučinel
Video: Darko Sintič
Video editing: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik
Executive production: Mojca Prešern Levstek, UHO Society
Production: DUM – Association of Artists
Co-production: Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia and UHO Society (New Music Forum)
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City Municipality of Ljubljana, Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, Inotherm d.o.o.
John Cage (1912–1992) is one of the few composers whose influences extend beyond the borders of music – because he moved through various artistic environments. After studying with Arnold Schönberg, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to music, creating compositions for percussion. Cage was passionate about expanding musical material, and the prepared piano should be understood in this context. He inserted various objects between the piano strings, transforming the piano from a melodic-harmonic instrument into a percussion instrument. His compositions The Mysterious Adventure (1945) and Music for Marcel Duchamp (1947) are written for prepared piano. He created the former for a dance performance by Cage's partner Merce Cunningham, and the latter for Hans Richter's film Dreams That Money Can Buy, in which Marcel Duchamp's dreams were furnished with Cage's music.
Cage sought new sounds even more radically, as demonstrated by Imaginary Landscape No. 1, the first electroacoustic composition. It was created as accompaniment for Cocteau's ballet The Wedding Party on the Eiffel Tower; in the composition, Cage used technical aids available in the studio environment in 1939: gramophone records with recorded frequencies and turntables with variable playback speed.
Cage expanded not only the material aspect of music but also the “mental” aspect. From Eastern philosophies, he adopted the idea of the non-intentionality of art, leading him to incorporate chance into the compositional and performance process, or to the concept of indeterminacy, where the composer increasingly retreats from the artwork as its author. A typical example is Variations III (1962), which was intended for “any number of performers performing any actions.” The score consists of two transparent sheets of paper with circles that can be interpreted almost arbitrarily as musical notation. This means that most of the responsibility shifts from the author to the performers.
Even in his late works, Cage deliberately retreated from compositions. The Perpetual Tango (1984) is based on Erik Satie's unfinished composition Sports et divertissements. Cage clearly adopted Satie's rhythm with the pitches undetermined and only the direction of pitch movement indicated. The final cycle of Cage's compositions are the number pieces. These are works that have numbers in the title. The first number indicates the number of musicians and the second the sequential number of the composition intended for that number of musicians. Composition Two6 (1992) is the sixth in a series of compositions for two instruments. Numbers also dominate the musical notation. Here, Cage determines the time frame in which a specific sound must occur. Most often, this is an isolated long tone. The outcome is music that is remarkably tranquil in its focus and introspection.
John Cage strongly influenced the development of dance art with his radical artistic ideas as a collaborator of choreographer Merce Cunningham and his ensemble, initiating a reform of dance production among the generation of young dance artists at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s that changed contemporary dance forever. Cage Open is a choreographic work located between performance, ritual and process. Rauch Podrzavnik and Tomášik have unequivocally identified the object of dance within it as a “responsive body.” This body will inevitably develop a living connection with Cage's philosophy, articulated in the famous collection of essays Silence: Lectures and Writings (1961). Cage's musical starting point is listening. This is the prerequisite for music because sounds are always available to us. This perceptual negative of production is as current and radical in 2025 as it was in 1961, given the amount of blindness, silence, and ignorance concerning global events in the international political sphere. “The responsive body” of the choreographic work Cage Open will be initiated with auditory, visual, conceptual, and emotional elements, allowing artists and spectators to jointly discover the new in the familiar and the (r)evolutionary in the seeming and the obvious, according to the creators.