The eight Variations compositions by John Cage reflect the most productive years of his compositional life – from Variation I in 1958 to Variation VIII in 1976. They show the evolution of some of the earliest aleatoric, multimedia and spatial approaches to contemporary live music performance.

This book brings together new and existing perspectives, experiences and backgrounds to these remarkable works, explored by leading international Cage scholars and practitioners. The writings are complemented with a CD recording of Decibel’s Complete John Cage Variations Project, an hour-long performance programme featuring the Variations I–VIII. The works are performed using annotated digital scores created within the ensemble, automating many of the manual processes that resulting in new, accurate versions that align with Cage’s artistic aims. Traditional acoustic instruments and period electronics are featured alongside photocells, Arduino boards, online messaging services and calls, noise bass guitar, shortwave radio and custom DIY circuitry.

Rare composer notes and missing parts were sourced from the John Cage Trust, New York Public Library and Langlois Foundation. Published in conjunction with Cage’s publisher Peters Edition, the scores developed for the project are available via the Apple store.

Decibel is a new music ensemble and artistic research team that focuses on the integration of acoustic and electronic instruments in chamber music performance, founded in Western Australia in 2009. They are world-leading interpreters of graphic notations and pioneer digital score formats for composition and performance.