Cage, John. (1912–1992). "Themes & Variations" - SIGNED. Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press. 1982. First Edition.
Signed and inscribed by Cage on the inside front cover: "For Kevin on the eve of EWEA etc.! / John." Cage's volume of 'mesostic' poems, intended to be spoken aloud. Black-and-white photographs by Robert Mahon. 8 pp. of facsimile in Cage's handwriting at the end of the book. Soft cover. Unpaginated, approx. 120 pp. Edges slightly rubbed and dented, overall very good.
"As the title suggests, Themes and Variations consists of a section of themes, followed by four sections of variations on these themes. Each section is twelve minutes long, producing a sixty-minute work. There are fifteen themes, each based on the name of a man important in Cage's life and work. The names appear in vertical format, running through the middle of the composition. Cage calls the technique of writing horizontally through these names 'mesostics', a modified form of acrostics." (Ronald M. Radano in Perspectives of New Music, vol. 21, no. 1/2, 1982–3.)
Cage, John. (1912–1992). "Themes & Variations" - SIGNED. Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press. 1982. First Edition.
Signed and inscribed by Cage on the inside front cover: "For Kevin on the eve of EWEA etc.! / John." Cage's volume of 'mesostic' poems, intended to be spoken aloud. Black-and-white photographs by Robert Mahon. 8 pp. of facsimile in Cage's handwriting at the end of the book. Soft cover. Unpaginated, approx. 120 pp. Edges slightly rubbed and dented, overall very good.
"As the title suggests, Themes and Variations consists of a section of themes, followed by four sections of variations on these themes. Each section is twelve minutes long, producing a sixty-minute work. There are fifteen themes, each based on the name of a man important in Cage's life and work. The names appear in vertical format, running through the middle of the composition. Cage calls the technique of writing horizontally through these names 'mesostics', a modified form of acrostics." (Ronald M. Radano in Perspectives of New Music, vol. 21, no. 1/2, 1982–3.)