List of compositions by John Cage

List of works

Apprenticeship period (1932–36)

• Greek Ode, for voice and piano
• First Chapter of Ecclesiastes, for voice and piano
• Three Easy Pieces, for piano
• Three Songs for voice and piano,
• Sonata for Clarinet
• Sonata for Two Voices, for two instruments with specified ranges
• Composition for 3 Voices for three unspecified instruments
• Solo with obbligato accompaniment of two voices in canon, and six short inventions on the subjects of the solo, for three or more instruments
• Three pieces, for two flutes
• Quartet, for any four percussion instruments
• Two pieces, for piano
• Trio, for three percussionists

  Modern dance, prepared piano, and the transition to chance (1937–51)

• Metamorphosis, for piano
• Five Songs, for contralto soloist and piano
• Music for Wind Instruments, for wind quintet
• Bacchanale, for prepared piano
• Imaginary Landscape No. 1, for two variable-speed phono turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and cymbal
• First Construction , for six percussionists and an assistant
• Second Construction, for four percussionists
• Third Construction, for four percussionists
• Dance to the West, for piano
• Forever and Sunsmell, for voice and two percussionists
• Totem Ancestor, for prepared piano
• Jazz Study, for piano
• Imaginary Landscape No. 3, for six percussionists
• Imaginary Landscape No. 2
• The City Wears a Slouch Hat, for narrator and six percussionists
• Credo in Us, for four performers with various objects
• And The Earth Shall Bear Again, for prepared piano
• The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs, for voice and closed piano
• Primitive, for prepared piano
• In the Name of the Holocaust, for prepared piano
• Ad lib, for piano
• Our Spring Will Come, for prepared piano
• A Room, for piano or prepared piano
• She Is Asleep: 1. Quartet for percussion, 2. Duet for voice and prepared piano
• Amores, for percussion and prepared piano
• Four Dances , for voice and prepared piano
• Tossed As It Is Untroubled, for prepared piano
• Triple-Paced No. 1, for piano
• Four Walls, for piano and voice
• Prelude for Meditation, for prepared piano
• Root of an Unfocus, for prepared piano
• Spontaneous Earth, for prepared piano
• The Unavailable Memory of, for prepared piano
• Triple-Paced No. 2, for prepared piano
• The Perilous Night, suite for prepared piano
• A Valentine Out of Season, for prepared piano
• A Book of Music, for two prepared pianos
• Crete, for piano
• Dad, for piano
• Mysterious Adventure, for prepared piano
• Soliloquy, for piano
• Experiences No. 1, for two pianos 4 hands
• Three Dances for two prepared pianos
• Daughters of the Lonesome Isle, for prepared piano
• Ophelia, for piano
• Prelude for six instruments in A minor for flute, bassoon, trumpet, violin, cello and piano
• Two Pieces, for piano
• Music for Marcel Duchamp, for prepared piano
• Nocturne, for violin and piano
• Ballet The Seasons, versions for piano and for orchestra
• Dream, for piano or viola and ensemble of 4 violas
• Experiences No. 2 for voice
• In a Landscape for piano or harp
• Sonatas and Interludes, for prepared piano
• Suite for Toy Piano, for toy piano or piano
• A Flower, for voice and closed piano
• Works of Calder, film score for prepared piano and tape
• String Quartet in Four Parts, for string quartet
• Six Melodies, for violin and keyboard instrument
• Concerto for prepared piano, for prepared piano and chamber orchestra
• Haiku , for piano

  First chance works (1951–59)

• Sixteen Dances for flute, trumpet, 4 percussionists, piano, violin and cello
• Imaginary Landscape No. 4 , for 12 radios, 24 performers and a conductor
• Music of Changes, for piano
• Seven Haiku, for piano
• Waiting, for piano
• Imaginary Landscape No. 5 for any 42 recordings
• Two Pastorales, for piano or prepared piano
• Water Music for pianist using various objects
• For M.C. and D.T., for piano
• Music for Carillon No. 1, for carillon
• 4′33″ for any instrument or combination of instruments
• Music for Piano 1, for piano
• Williams Mix, for tape
• Music for Piano 2, for piano
• Music for Piano 4–19, for any number of pianos
• Music for Piano 3, for piano
• 59½" For a String Player, for any 4-string instrument
• Music for Piano 20, for piano
• Music for Carillon No. 2, for carillon
• Music for Carillon No. 3, for carillon
• 34'46.776" For a Pianist, for prepared piano
• 31'57.9864" For a Pianist, for prepared piano
• 26'1.1499" For a String Player, for string instrument
• Music for Piano 21–36, 37–52, for piano solo or in an ensemble
• Speech 1955, for news reader and 5 radios
• 27'10.554" For a Percussionist, for percussion
• Music for Piano 53–68, for piano solo or in an ensemble
• Music for Piano 69–84, for piano solo or in an ensemble
• Radio Music, for 1 to 8 performers using radios
• Winter Music, for piano
• For Paul Taylor and Anita Dencks, for piano
• Haiku, for any instruments or objects
• Variations I, for any number of performers and any kind and number of instruments
• Concert for piano and orchestra
• Solo for Voice 1, for voice
• Music Walk, for piano and various objects
• TV Köln, for piano, optionally with other objects
• Fontana Mix, for tape
• Aria, for voice

  [|Happenings], theater (1959–68)

• Sounds of Venice, for television set
• Water Walk, a work for a TV show for one performer with a variety of objects
• Cartridge Music, for amplified sounds
• Music for Amplified Toy Pianos, for any number of toy pianos
• Music for "The Marrying Maiden", for tape
• Solo for Voice 2, for solo voice or chorus
• Theatre Piece, for 1 to 8 performers
• WBAI – auxiliary score for performance with other works
• Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?, composed lecture, tapes
• Atlas Eclipticalis for an ensemble of 86 instruments
• Music for Carillon No. 4, for electronic instrument with accompaniment
• Variations II, for any number of performers and any kind and number of instruments
• Music for Piano 85, for piano and electronics
• Variations III, for any number of people performing any actions
• 0′00″ , solo for any performer
• Variations IV for any number of performers, any sounds or combinations of sounds produced by any means, with or without other activities
• Electronic Music for Piano, for solo piano with electronics
• Rozart Mix, tape loops
• Variations V
• Variations VI, for a plurality of sound systems
• Music for Carillon No. 5, for a four-octave instrument
• Variations VIII, no music or recordings
• Assemblage, for electronics

  Return to composition (1969–86)

• HPSCHD, for 1 to 7 amplified harpsichords and 1 to 51 tapes
• Cheap Imitation, for piano
• Sound Anonymously Received, for an unsolicited instrument
• Untitled , for harpsichord
• Dialog, for two performers with various objects
• Song Books, for one or more voices
• Mureau, for one or more speakers and tape ad lib
• WGBH-TV, for composer and technicians
• Bird Cage, for 12 tapes
• Etcetera, for small orchestra, tape and, optionally, 3 conductors
• Exercise, for an orchestra of soloists
• Etudes Australes, for piano
• Score and 23 Parts, for 23 performers; any instruments and/or voices
• Child of Tree , for percussion made of plants and/or plants used as percussion
• Lecture on the Weather, lecture for 12 voices and tapes
• Renga, 78 parts for any instruments and/or voices
• Quartets I–VIII, for orchestra
• Branches, for percussion made of plants or plants used as percussion
• Telephones and Birds, for three performers
• 49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs, for performer, or listener, or record maker
• Freeman Etudes, for violin
• Inlets , for four performers with conch shells and the sound of fire
• Cassette for five performers with any number of tapes
• Alla ricerca del silenzio perduto, for "prepared train"
• A Dip in the Lake: Ten Quicksteps, Sixty-two Waltzes, and Fifty-six Marches for Chicago and Vicinity, for performer or listener or record maker
• Some of the "Harmony of Maine", for organist and three assistants
• Etudes Boreales, for cello and/or piano
• Hymns and Variations, for twelve amplified voices
• Roaratorio, an Irish circus on Finnegans Wake, tape
• Improvisation III, for four or more cassette players
• Furniture Music Etcetera, for two pianos
• Litany for the Whale, for two voices
• Thirty Pieces for Five Orchestras, for five orchestras
• Instances of Silence, for any number of cassette players and tapes
• Postcard from Heaven, for 1 to 20 harps
• Improvisation IV , for three cassette players
• Dance/4 Orchestras, for four orchestras
• Fifteen Domestic Minutes, for record players at different radio stations
• An Alphabet, radio play
• ear for EAR , for voices
• Ryoanji, for double bass, trombone, oboe, voice, percussion, small orchestra
• R/13 , for percussionist with thirteen found objects
• Souvenir, for organ
• Thirty Pieces for String Quartet, for string quartet
• HMCIEX, tape for radio
• Perpetual Tango, for piano
• Haikai, for flute and zoomoozophone
• Nowth upon Nacht, for voice and piano
• A Collection of Rocks, for choir and orchestra
• Eight Whiskus, for low voice
• Mirakus², for voice
• Selkus²,
• ASLSP, for piano or organ
• Sonnekus², for voice
• The first meeting of the Satie society the socie satiety, for two speakers, one female singer, musicians and/or tapes
• But what about the noise of crumpling paper which he used to do in order to paint the series of "Papiers froissés" or tearing up paper to make "Papiers déchirés?" Arp was stimulated by water, forests, for percussion ensemble
• Etcetera 2/4 Orchestras, for four orchestras and tape
• Voiceless Essay, for four computer-generated tapes
• Wishing Well, for four speakers
• Hymnkus, for voice and chamber ensemble
• Improvisation A+B, for voice, clarinet, trombone, percussion and orchestra
• Rocks, for various electronic devices
• Haikai, for gamelan ensemble

  Number Pieces and other late works (1987–92)

• Music for ________, seventeen parts with no score, for a variable chamber ensemble
• Essay, for computer-generated tapes
• Two, for flute and piano
• Organ²/ASLSP, for organ
• One, for piano
• Europeras 1 & 2, for 19 voices and 21 musicians
• Five, for any five instruments or voices
• Solos for Voice 93–96, for voice
• Seven, for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola and cello
• Twenty-Three, for 13 violins, 5 violas and 5 cellos
• Five Stone Wind, for three performers with clay drums, electronics and unspecified instruments
• 1O1, for orchestra
• Four, for string quartet
• One², for 1 to 4 pianos
• Three, for three recorders
• Two², for two pianos
• One³ = 4′33″ + , for solo performer
• Sculptures Musicales, for electronics
• Sports: Swinging, after Satie, for piano
• The Beatles 1962–1970, piano and, optionally, tape
• c Composed Improvisations, for bass guitar, snare drum and one-sided drums with or without jangles
• One⁴, for solo drummer
• Fourteen, for piano, flute/piccolo, bass flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, 2 percussionists, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass
• One⁵, for piano
• Europeras 3 & 4, for 6 voices, 2 pianos, 12 victrolas and tape
• One⁶, for violin
• Seven², for bass flute, bass clarinet, bass trombone, two percussionists with unspecified instruments, cello and contrabass
• One⁷, for any sound-producing object
• Scottish Circus, for Scottish folk band of any number of musicians and any instruments/voices
• Four², for SATB choir
• One⁸, for cello
• 108, for orchestra
• Europera 5, for 2 voices, piano, victrola, tape/TV/radio
• Eight, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, tenor trombone and tuba
• Three² for three percussionists with unspecified instruments
• Four³, for one or two pianos, twelve rainsticks and violin/oscillator, all operated by four performers
• Five², for English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet and timpani
• Lullaby, for musical box
• One⁹, for shō
• Two³, for shō and five conch shells
• Two⁴, for violin and piano or shō
• Six, for six percussionists with unspecified instruments
• 103, for orchestra
• Two⁵, for piano and tenor trombone
• Four⁴, for percussionists with unspecified instruments
• Four⁵, for four saxophones
• Five³, for trombone and string quartet
• Five⁴, for soprano saxophone, alto saxophone and 3 percussionists
• Five⁵, for flute, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet and percussion
• Five Hanau Silence, for tape
• Ten, for flute, oboe, clarinet, trombone, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola and cello
• Twenty-Six, for 26 violins
• Twenty-Eight, for wind ensemble
• Twenty-Nine, for two timpani, two percussionists, piano and strings
• Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Six and Twenty-Nine, for orchestra
• Mozart Mix, for five cassette players
• One¹⁰, for violin
• Sixty-Eight, for orchestra
• Eighty, for orchestra
• Four⁶, for four performers with any means of producing sounds
• Seventy-Four, for orchestra
• Fifty-Eight, for wind orchestra
• Two⁶, for violin and piano
• Thirteen, for flute, oboe, clarinet in B-flat, bassoon, trumpet in C, tenor trombone, tuba, 2 percussionists, 2 violins, viola and cello
• Muoyce II, for speaker and tapes
• One¹¹, for solo cinematographer
• One¹², for solo lecturer

  Happenings

• Black Mountain Piece, mixed-media performance
• Variations V, audio-visual performance
• Variations VII, mixed-media performance
• Musicircus, mixed-media performance
• Newport Mix, event with audience-provided tape loops
• Reunion, event
• Mewantemooseicday, event
• 33, installation with record players
• Demonstration of the Sounds of the Environment, event
• Les chants de Maldoror pulvérisés par l'assistance même, event
• Apartment House 1776, mixed-media event
• Address, mixed-media event
• Sounday, radio event
• Concerto Grosso, installation
• Paragraphs of Fresh Air, radio event
• Silent Environment
• Evéne/Environne METZment
• A House Full of Music, for 200 performers from music schools
• Musicircus for Children

  Collaborations

• Marriage at the Eiffel Tower, for two pianos and various objects – with Henry Cowell, George Frederick McKay, Silvestre Revueltas, and Amadeo Roldán
• Double Music, for four percussionists – with Lou Harrison
• Party Pieces: Sonorous and Exquisite Corpses, for any melodic and/or keyboard instruments – with Henry Cowell, Lou Harrison and Virgil Thomson
• Music for "Museum Event No. 5", mixed-media performance – with Toshi Ichiyanagi, Gordon Mumma and David Tudor
• "HPSCHD", for harpsichord and computer-generated sounds – with Lejaren Hiller
• Vis-à-vis, for two performers – with Toru Takemitsu

  Arrangements

• Arrangement of Socrate
• Adaptation of Ixion for chamber ensemble or 2 pianos
• Collage of some Studies for Player Piano on tape
• Adaptation of some Studies for Player Piano

  Unfinished and incomplete works

• Quest, for various objects and piano
• Chess Pieces, for piano
• Encounter, for piano
• Unfinished work for voice
• Unfinished work for magnetic tape
• One¹³, for one live cello and recordings of three cellos
• Sixteen, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, piano, 2 percussionists, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass

  Lost works

• Untitled composition, 1931
• Etudes, for piano
• Duet, for two flutes
• Music for Xenia, for piano
• Allemande for clarinet
• String Quartet
• Music for an Aquatic Ballet
• 25 Ballets in 1 act for a solo dancer
• Ho to AA, for voice and piano
• America was promises, for voice and piano 4 hands
• Four songs of the moment, for piano
• Prelude to Flight, for piano?
• Spiritual, for piano
• Opening dance, for piano
• Shimmera, for prepared piano
• Lidice, for prepared piano
• The Feast, for piano
• Thin Cry, for piano
• Foreboding, for piano
• Orestes, for piano?
• Music for Carillon No. 6, dedicated to Morton Feldman
• First Week of June
• Untitled , for piano
• 52/3
• Music for "Westbeth", for piano?
• Pools, for a single performer
• Seventeen,
• Otte, for violin

  Literary works

• A Year from Monday
• M
• Empty Words
• X