ABSTRACT
60The over-fifty-year collaboration of John Cage and Merce Cunningham is typically known for the independence of the music and the dance, sharing only a common duration. However, Cage composed a movement score for the conductor's part in Concert For Piano and Orchestra (1957–58). Cunningham performed the conductor's part at the first performance in 1958.
This essay documents Cage's score and Cunningham's performance, with attention to choreographic notation. The conclusion is concerned with time theory, as exemplified in the work of both artists. Taken in context, Cage's score for the conductor in Concert For Piano and Orchestra, and Cunningham's performance, constitute a summation of their mature collaborative process between the music and the dance as separate yet mutually inclusive entities.
