Rare original 1951 first pressing "Dial Records 19-20" 2xLP in textured stickered gatefold sleeve, prepared piano works by Cage performed by Maro Ajemian. Jacket with areas of toning and evident damage to spine, but with the ownership signature of poet Elizabeth Bishop ("E. Bishop") upper right. Works included are:

A  The First Four Sonatas Followed By The First Interlude   
B  The Second Four Sonatas Followed By The Second Interlude   
C  The Third Interlude Followed By The Third Four Sonatas   
D  The Fourth Interlude Followed By The Last Four Sonatas

A fascinating association between two influential artists who are not known to have collaborated together. But Bishop's poetry, known for its precision and detailed observations of nature and everyday life, reflects a similar focus on the world as Cage's musical compositions, which often incorporate found sounds and environmental elements.

Almost all Cage’s prepared-piano pieces were written as dance scores. Pragmatism was one reason: in the 1940s, Cage travelled widely in the US with financially-struggling dance groups, and a bag containing small bits of metal, wood and rubber was cheaper to transport than a percussion ensemble. Most of the pieces were composed for choreographer Merce Cunningham, who became Cage’s life partner in 1945, following Cage’s divorce from his wife. The short, playful compositions which make up ‘Sonatas and Interludes’ were written from 1946-48, and are among Cage’s most beautiful compositions in the genre. Dial Records was the tiny Los Angeles label set up by music enthusiast Ross Russell in 1946 to record bop revolutionary Charlie Parker.

"One of John Cage's first and best musical explorations was the prepared piano. A prepared piano in Cage's hands could be any number of things but was, most basically, a piano with metal objects inserted between the strings. These are the earliest prepared piano recordings, dating from 1951, and feature the fresh execution of Maro Ajemian, who sounds at complete ease in proximity to her groundbreaking position. Cage's pieces rely on the piano as a percussion instrument as much as a harmony instrument, and these sonatas sound beautifully rich as well as skillfully cropped. The piano rings in ricochets, from clean intonation to hard-knocked slaps. This is musical discovery of the highest order." (Andrew Bartlett)

During her lifetime, poet Elizabeth Bishop was a respected yet somewhat obscure figure in the world of American literature. Since her death in 1979, however, her reputation has grown to the point that many critics, like Larry Rohter in the New York Times, have referred to her as "one of the most important American poets" of the 20th century. Bishop was a perfectionist who did not write prolifically, preferring instead to spend long periods of time polishing her work. She published only 101 poems during her lifetime. Her verse is marked by precise descriptions of the physical world and an air of poetic serenity, but her underlying themes include the struggle to find a sense of belonging, and the human experiences of grief and longing.