Number Pieces


The term Number Pieces refers to a body of late compositions by John Cage. Each piece is named after the number of performers involved: for instance, Seven is a piece for seven performers, One9 is the ninth work for one performer, and 1O1 is a piece for an orchestra of 101 musicians. The vast majority of these works were composed using Cage's time bracket technique: the score consists of short fragments and indications, in minutes and seconds, during which the fragment can start and by what time it should end. Time brackets can be fixed or flexible.
All of the Number Pieces were composed during the last six years of Cage's life, 1987–1992. Most are for traditional instruments, with six exceptions that range from works for rainsticks, the Japanese aerophone shō and conch shells to an electronically amplified version of 4′33″. This article lists all Number Pieces, organized by number of performers.

List of Number Pieces

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six to Twenty

Twenty to 108

Cage's late orchestral works are to be performed without a conductor.
TitleInstrumentationDate of compositionDedicateeDetails
Twenty-Threeupper strings 1988, before June 21Commissioned by the Yellow Barn Music FestivalEach performer has their own chronometer, and decides when to start.
Twenty-Six26 violinsDecember 1991Sinfonieorchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks and the Alte OperaThis piece may be performed with Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, or both. All time brackets contain a single sound. The first violin starts the videoclock.
Twenty-Eight3 flutes, 1 alto flute, 4 clarinets, 3 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 4 trumpets, 4 horns, 2 trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 tubaDecember 1991Sinfonieorchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks and the Alte OperaThis piece may be performed with Twenty-Six, Twenty-Nine, or both. All time brackets contain a single sound. The first flute starts the videoclock.
Twenty-Nine2 timpani, 2 percussionists, bowed piano, lower strings December 1991Sinfonieorchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks and the Alte OperaThis piece may be performed with Twenty-Six, Twenty-Eight, or both. All time brackets contain a single sound. The first viola starts the videoclock.
Fifty-Eight3 piccolos, 4 flutes, 3 alto flutes, 4 oboes, 3 English horns, 4 B-flat clarinets, 3 bass clarinets, 4 bassoons, 3 contrabassoons, 3 soprano saxophones, 3 alto saxophones, 3 tenor saxophones, 3 baritone saxophones, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 tenor trombones and 3 tubasMarch 1992Solf Schaefer and the Österreichische Rundfunk This large work was composed to be performed at The Landhaus in Graz, a 16th-century Renaissance building. The Landhaus has 58 arches, in which the performers were to be positioned.
Sixty-Eight3 alto flutes, 3 Cor Anglais, 5 clarinets, 5 trumpets, 4 percussionists, 2 pianos, strings February 1992Ernstalbrecht Stiebler and the Sinfonieorchester des Hessischer RundfunksEach part has 15 time brackets, each with a single sound. The sequence of pitches is always the same, but time bracket durations are different.
Seventy-Four3333–4331, 2 pianos, 2 percussionists, harp and strings March 1992Francis Thorne, Dennis Russell Davies and the American Composers OrchestraThere are just two parts: one for high instruments, another for low. Performance notes suggest slight exaggeration of the usual imperfection of tuning, to give the impression of a microtonal work.
Eighty7 alto flutes, 7 English horns, 7 clarinets, 7 trumpets, upper strings February 1992András WilheimAll parts are identical, only transposed for each instrument. Premiered on 28 October 2011 at Munich's Herkulessaal, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by David Robertson.
1O14 4 4 4 – 6431, timpani, 4 percussionists, piano, harp, strings 1988, before November 13Boston Symphony OrchestraThe title is to be spelled with capital "O". The instrumentation includes bullroarers and angklungs. Although the piece is scored for a large orchestra, the duration is approximately 12 minutes, and the maximum number of time brackets per part is 12.
1034 4 4 4 - 4441, 2 timpani, 2 percussion and stringsSeptember 1991Henning Lohner, Wolfgang Becker-Carsten and the Kölner Rundfunk-SinfonieorchesterAll parts consist of series of single tones. The piece may be performed together with One11.
1084, 5, 5, 5 - 7551, 5 percussionists and strings April 1991Süddeutscher Rundfunk OrchestraSimilar in structure to a symphony, the work is in four movements with silence occurring at the start, between each movement, and at the end. The percussion instruments are "distinguished from one another but not named" and should be "very resonant." The piece may also be performed as a cello concerto with One8, as a shō concerto with any three movements of One9, and as a double concerto for shō and five conch shells with any three movements of Two3.
The first performance of One8 and 108 was performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Nov. 30, 1991 with Michael Bach, cello soloist with curved bow.