John Cage

Living Room Music

This work, composed in 1940, is titled according to the unspecified instrumentation. The first ('To Begin') and last movements ('End') of this piece are to be played on household 'objects' that could be found in your living room, such as magazines, a table, books, or the floor, or by using architectural objects, such as window frames. In the second movement ('Story'), the quartet of performers speak or sing sections of text from the poem The World is Round by Gertrude Stein. The optional third movement ('Melody') is a melody performed by one player on 'any suitable instrument'. Four copies of this score are required for performance.