MUSICAGE: CAGE MUSES on Words * Art * Music

H. Excerpts from Score for Europera 5

APPENDIX H: Excerpts from Score for Europera5 EUROPERA 5 DIRECTOR John Cage (Text by Andrew Culver) Texts for Europera 5 include performance parts for a pianist, two singers (the second chosen by the first), a victrola player, a sound designer /performer and a light director /performer, as well as this document, which provides the staging requirements, details about material needs, and an overview of the production. The director should be familiar with all of them. Material Provided by the publisher: 1 parts - Piano, Singer 1, Singer 2, Victrola, Sound, Light, Director. 1 audio tape (DAT) labelled Truckera. 1 video tape (VHS, NTSC or PAL) labelled Europeraclock. 1 packet of IBM compatible diskettes (SVi" and 5Vi" HD) labelled Europera, with documentation. Provided by the producer: 1 grand piano 1 lamp for pianist's music that can be directed away from the public 1 bench 1 antique mechanical horn phonograph (His Master's Voice Victrola) 6 antique recordings of operatic arias, spares in case of breakage a supply of phonograph needles 5 old chairs (at least 2 of which are armless and straight-backed) 3 old tables 3 old lamps 1 radio 1 television 2 head and shoulder animal masks for the singers 1 DATplayback deck 1 sound mixer 2 in, 2 out, slide faders and pan pots, headphones 1 powerful stereo sound sys'tem 64 stick-on numbers, and tape, for marking the grid on the stage 1 video playback system 2 or 3 large monitors 1 VHS VCR Cables 1 computer light console, between 24 and 48 lights (the light and video needs are described in detail in the light part) Copyright © 1991 by Henmar Press, Inc., 373 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 Excerpts from Europera 5 333 1991 DIRECTOR Staging Plot a grid of 64 areas and mark it with tape on the floor ofthe performance area. Place the stickon numbers in the upper left corner of each grid square so that they can be read from the perspective of the performers. The size of the squares can range from 60 cm. to 100 cm. depending on the space available. The form of the grid can be an 8 by 8 square, or can be elongated symmetrically to fit a wide and shallow stage, or can be varied in other symmetrical ways, or in an asymmetrical way if the performance space is very curiously shaped, the design resulting not from choice but as a result or outcome of the space. Drawings of some possibilities are shown below. All instruments and furniture are positioned on the grid, except two of the chairs on which the singers may sit between arias, which are placed to the side or upstage of the grid. The singers 334 Appendix H DIRECTOR move to new positions for each aria (positions given in the singers' parts). The positions of the piano, television, and tables - sound, light and victrola, each with lamp and chair - are fixed, but are newly determined for each venue according to chance operations (see the Europera software and its documentation for details). For the tables and television the rule is that the chance operations will indicate a square within which at least one leg shall stand. If the television does not have its own base, one must be provided.The radio is offstage, sounding from a distance. For the piano,the number is the square over which the pianist sits, with the tail ofthe piano extending stage left in the usual concert manner. Some latitude is required in positioning the piano. For example, if a square comes up that is already far to stage left, the piano may not fit. Or the piano may end up downstage center blocking everything behind it. Solve these problems in the following manner: (1) When asking a question for the piano, don't include squares that are unusable, and don't include the two rows of squares farthest down-stage. (2) If the piano ends up right in front of one of the tables, or if two tables end up on the same square, use the "at least one leg" rule to adjust things, making everyone at least partially visible. (3) If a singer has a position directly upstage of the piano and can't be seen, use a riser. (4)Place the two straight-backed chairs for the singers upstage or to the side of the grid where the singers can be...