John Cage FOR SERGIO for bassoon World Premiere Michele Colombo Bassoon

The piece I am proposing is an unpublished work by John Cage.

It is dedicated to the bassoonist Sergio Romani, at the time bassoonist at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, who has jealously preserved it for all these years.

It was presumably given to Sergio Romani in November or December 1973 when J. Cage was in Rome to attend the performance of his “Exercise”. Probably impressed by Sergio's skill and friendliness, he did not hesitate to grant his request for an autograph, enriching it with a very short, impromptu composition. Among the various possible interpretations, I decided to perform it as follows.

A single line of the stave defines a boundary around which the composition develops.

The pitches and tempo have no defined codification.

The piece has only two real notes, which spell out the name of the dedicatee: Ser-gio. Around these “concrete” notes develops a halo of fluid sounds, an intangible reality that composes the inconsistency of the etheric world that envelops matter. 

I have defined the symbols in the following rule. O : breath ●: slap.

I am honoured to perform this “sound autograph” for the first time, dedicated to the late Sergio Romani, who made a valuable contribution to music with flair, humility and great professionalism.