Classical Pick of the Week: 18 Microtonal Ragas

John Cage (1912-1992) is one of the most well known experimental American Composers and musical/sound philosophers. You may know him for 4'33", a piece where three movements are performed without a single note being played. Many of his compositions explored chance music, non-standard use of instruments and electronics.

This week at REDCAT, Dhrupad vocalist Amelia Cuni will perform Cage's "18 Microtonal Ragas: Solo 58."

An Italian-German performer and composer trained in both European experimental music and the classical Hindustani art of dhrupad, Cuni contextualizes Cage’s use of melodic modulations and rhythmic cycles within one of the oldest and most refined idioms of Indian performance practice. The resulting ragas also include movement, gesture and theatrical incident to give the music a distinctive scenic dimension. Cuni is accompanied by drone composer Werner Durand and percussionists Ray Kaczynski and Federico Sanesi.

To understand a little more about John Cage and what to look for in his compositions, this video will help.

Amelia Cuni: John Cage’s 18 Microtonal Ragas
Thursday, November 8 @ 8:30 p.m.
REDCAT Theatre (at Walt Disney Concert Hall, corner of 2nd/Hope)