''Credo in Us'' is a musical composition by the American

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, writer and visual artist

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

. It was written in July 1942 and revised in October of that year. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, this piece avoided the populist tendencies of fellow American composers at the time, while the piece's title is thought to be a call to collective unity. Styled as "a dramatic playlet for Two Characters", Cage described ''Credo in Us'' as "a suite with a satirical character". It was composed to accompany a piece of contemporary dance choreographed by his partner and collaborator

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

and choreographer Jean Erdman, who performed the piece at its premiere in Bennington College, Vermont on August 1, 1942.

Instrumentation

One of a number of Cage's percussive works, ''Credo in Us'' is unusual in using sound samples from recordings of other works, fragments of radio broadcast, popular music, tin cans and tom toms. The

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

for the original performance included four performers: a pianist; two percussionists playing muted gongs, tin cans, electric buzzer and tom-toms; and a fourth performer operating a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and a

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

. For the phonograph, Cage suggests using something "classic" such as Dvořák,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

; and for the radio, to use any station but avoid news programs in the case of a "national emergency". Jean Erdman recalls that for the first performance a 'tack-piano' was used—one of Cage's

prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for pr ...

s, though the pianist is also called upon to play the soundbox of the instrument as a percussionist.

Structure

Four tutti “Facades” are separated by three “Progressions.” The Facades feature the use of polyrhythms that create a dense and, especially when the phonograph or radio is sounding, cacophonous sonic landscape. The First Progression, a cowboy song (and the first of two extended piano solos), was a solo for Cunningham. The Second Progression, a solo for Erdman, uses an “Indian” tom-tom rhythm as its background. The Third Progression, a duet for the dancers, is set to an extended “boogie-woogie” piano solo. The work ends in the same manner in which it begins – a solo for the phonograph/radio player.

Historical Context

Looking at ''Credo in Us'' though the lens of history, we are able to view Credo as a sort of microcosm of Cage’s output. Many typical Cagean aspects are found in this work: the use of piano and percussion (both standard and found instruments) to accompany a dance; the use of radio and electronic sounds (foreshadowing many later works, including ''Radio Music'' and ''Imaginary Landscape No. 4''); and the inclusion of random events (whatever happens to be playing on the radio) are all representative of the Cage aesthetic.

Recordings

* 1971 : Musica Negativa, conducted by Rainer Riehn - ''Credo in Us'' (Cortical Foundation 14) * 1995 : Mainz Percussion Ensemble - ''Music for Percussion Quartet'' (Col Legno WWE 1CD 20015) * 1996 : The Eos Ensemble, conducted by Jonathan Sheffer - ''Music for Merce'' (Catalyst BMG 09026-68751-2) * 2000 : Quatuor Helios - ''Credo in us...: More Works for Percussion'' ( WERGO WER 6651 2) * 2001 : Cikada Duo & Tomas Nilsson'' - Will You Give Me to Tell You'' (Albedo ALBCD021) * 2013 : Giancarlo Simonacci & Ars Ludi - ''Music for Piano and Percussion'' ( Brilliant Classics 94745)

References

External links