Review

by Stephen Eddins

This CD is devoted to performances of John Cage's percussion music by the Spanish percussion ensemble Amores Grup de Percussió, as well as several pieces written in homage to Cage. The program notes make it clear that the group, which takes its name from Cage's 1943 composition for percussion and prepared piano, is deeply committed to Cage's philosophy, and the urgency and vitality of the performances reflect that commitment. In Living Room Music, which requires the performers to recite a text by Gertrude Stein, their heavily accented English adds a surreal dimension to a piece that is so strongly identified with the American avant-garde. The delicacy of the textures and the charm of his rhythmic invention are reminders that Cage was significant not only as a theorist of the avant-garde, but as a composer of immensely attractive music. The sound quality of the CD is clean and bright.