John Cage’s Variations IV, composed in 1963, is the fourth work in his series of eight Variations written between 1958 and 1967. It is considered the second part of a group of three works, preceded by Atlas Eclipticalis (1961–62) and followed by 0’00” (1962), also known as 4’33” No. 2. This sequence is aligned with HideKazu Yoshida’s interpretations of Japanese Haiku poetry, with Variations IV representing ‘samsara’, the turmoil of everyday life.
Variations IV is often dubbed the pivotal work in the Variations series. Its primary point of interest is the distribution of sound sources within and outside a given space. This focus on the placement and movement of sound marked a major shift in Cage’s compositional thinking and set the stage for the immersive, multi-layered works that followed, such as Variations V, VI, and VII. His growing interest in new technologies was driven by a desire to shape sonic environments, where sound could move freely through space and interact with its surroundings. Cage’s interest in new technology seems directed towards creating an environment that allows him to map sonic space.
The ‘turmoil of everyday life’ aspect is reflected in the score’s potential to place performers around and outside the performance space, moving them away from the traditional stage and into the world. This brings the musicians “into the world” and allows them to scatter “beyond, beneath and into the larger, possible performance atmosphere”. This spatial scattering reflects the pervasive and often chaotic nature of everyday life that exists outside controlled environments.
Variations IV: The Transparency Method
The work employs a unique compositional method involving transparencies and a map of the performance venue. The score consists of a transparency with seven points and two circles to be cut into nine separate pieces. To create a performance score, one circle is placed on a map of the specific venue provided by the performers. The remaining eight pieces (the seven points and the second circle) are then dropped onto the map “inside or outside” the performance space. Lines are then drawn from the fixed circle (on the map) to the dropped points. If a line intersects or is tangential, the second circle becomes operative.
Crucially, unlike some earlier Variations, the provided symbols are not to be ‘performed’ as musical parameters. Instead, the score provides arrangements for the placement of the sounds in a particular space, indicating where sounds should be produced. Sounds are generated at points on the lines outside the performance space and via sound-producing systems inside the space if a line intersects the dropped circle. The instructions can be tailored to different types of venues like theatres, buildings, apartments, caves, or outdoor spaces. Variations I, II, III, and VI also use this transparency-dropping method.
In performance, Variations IV is for “any number of players, any sounds or combinations of sounds produced by any means, with or without other activities.” Cage was reluctant to give specific instructions on the sounds themselves, even suggesting performers could “do something else,” increasing the potential for risk and uncontrollability compared to earlier Variations. The performers’ locations are clearly marked by the score. The duration of the performance is open and intuitive, and performers do not necessarily refer back to the score once the piece has started.
Historically, Variations IV has been performed relatively infrequently, along with Variations VI, potentially due to its complex instructions or the possibility of unperformable outcomes. A well-known realization is the audio environment created by Cage and David Tudor at the Feigen-Palmer Gallery in Los Angeles in 1964, which reportedly lasted six hours and used sound systems, radios, tapes, decks, and microphones, including one placed outside to capture street traffic. A 1965 KPFA Radio performance, around 31 minutes long, used loudspeakers inside and outside the space and incorporated various radio sounds. Variations III and IV were presented simultaneously in 2000 under the title Anything Else Is Going On at the Same Time.
Variations IV – Beyond Transparencies
Decibel, the highly regarded Australian new music ensemble chose not to use the physical transparencies in their realization of John Cage’s Variations IV mostly because the manual process of cutting, dropping, measuring, and interpreting the transparencies is time-consuming, complex, and clumsy in the context of a live performance. Decibel developed software (initially in MaxMSP and Java, later ported to an iPad app) to model and automate this process virtually. This digital adaptation allowed them to generate the scores in real-time on screen. Specifically for Variations IV, the software allows users to insert a map of any venue and automates the placement of the sound sources onto it, generating a performance diagram.
The Simple Harmonic Motion recording of Variations IV, produced by John Bickerton, also did not use Cage’s transparency method. When the score was purchased, the publisher Edition Peters did not provide transparencies. A different method was developed using a spreadsheet. Our performance took place in a Brooklyn brownstone during the COVID lockdown period. The image on the left shows the map of the performance space. A spreadsheet was created that mirrored the map. Random numbers were generated, with each number corresponding to a place on the map.
Cage’s method required cutting up seven points and two circles. One circle was manually placed on the map. The seven points and one circle would be thrown (dropped) onto the performance map. In our version, seven random numbers were generated, assigning the seven points (red squares), and two random numbers were generated for the two circles (blue squares). Lines were drawn from the blue (the circle in Cage’s technique) to the red points, indicating where a sound source would initiate.
Seven separate castings over the map resulted in a performance lasting about twelve and a half minutes. Where points fell outside the interior of the home, microphones were set up outside on the street side of the house and also in the backyard. Sound sources included a piano, recorders, radio signals, LPs, CDs, TV broadcasts, as well as the building’s utilities, including the boiler, shower, and kitchen sounds.
