Landscape of a Dream

Editorial Reviews
John W. Patterson Eclectic Earwig Reviews
I found 110% pure meditative relaxation, calm inspiring bliss, and portals to mind-peace.

Reiki Bliss Radio
No music I have ever heard takes me to this incredible altered state of consciousness.

Album Description
Landscape of a Dream' is minimalistic ambient music that I use for relaxing and contemplation. The music isn't meant to be catchy or intellectual, this isn't pop music :) It's a soundtrack for dreaming while awake. If you listen to it enough you may sense yourself floating a little above your body.

Landscape of a Dream

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Trite Not Treat
"Before the sh*t, there was a mighty fine meal" - W.A. Mozart
Cage for people who don't like modern music
In A Landscape = unmatched beauty
Great for old and new listeners

John Cage: In a Landscape

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
Insomnia
John Cage: Music for Prepared Piano, Vol. 2
Silence: Lectures and Writings
John Cage: Early Piano Music

ASIN: B000003EL7
Release Date: 1995-01-10

Tracks:

In A Landscape
Music For Marcel Duchamp
Souvenir
A Valentine Out Of Season
Suite For Toy Piano
Bacchanale
Prelude For Meditation
Dream

Customer Reviews:

Trite Not Treat.......2006-02-23

There is a common assumption, particularly among the musical literati, that if a piece is novel, obscure, extremely simple, unchromatic or simply weird, it must, by definition, be quality material. Sheer novelty trumps quality. I am reminded of having to hunker down at the Symphony as the conductor launches into an extended "explanation" on why this next piece may not have a melody, discernable beat, nor employ "ordinary" instruments, yet is still a fine piece of art. (Chances are the majority of comments will be along the lines of, "What in the world was that thing with bongo drums & basketballs?"

I am the first to admit the artistry, perhaps musicality of Cage even when he takes himself AND his music too seriously. At least we did not have to "listen" to 4'33". One reviewer was correct - this is perhaps the most accessible offering of the entire ouevre. It is...interesting in a childish sort of way, sort of like someone who learns that hitting notes on a keyboard results in sounds or better, is playing just to hear the sounds that can be produced. DREAM perfectly expresses the mood of this CD (which is wonderful as party backgroup music) with its enigmatic, almost shy explorations. The tracks are united by an almost wordless fear of being closely examined. A few contain a nice rhythmic drive, others remind one of that godawful New Age stuff heard on public radio occasionally. The CD is compelling only if one takes their music with a huge dollop of tenuousness.

"Before the sh*t, there was a mighty fine meal" - W.A. Mozart.......2006-02-01

The bigger sin would be to have been born before Bach and bitch about the dearth of music celebrating things other than mankind's moribundity. We listeners - and listeners of greater rotundity, too - must wade backward through some rather insensible attempts to make music of the kind that might be called classical. Very generally our near contemporaries have either soaked us all heavy with a riptide of sentimentality or made of mockery of sound so effectively that we have all soaked them with our unceasing flows of laughter.

Before Picasso was making a bloody mess of things he was making something approximating art; and in between those conical eyes and angular breasts I can nearly find the remnants of that once sane man. John Cage had me in stitches for a time when I had the patience and credulity to stop long enough to listen. He reminded me that the piano was a percussive instrument - one to be hardly banged upon in the chorus of creation and muse.

Between then and the very moment I received `In a Landscape' John Cage was merely a mark of reference denoting that point at which I stopped taking his work and my life too seriously. But `In a Landscape' - or as I spooneristically name it, "In a Cage" - is something unlike the curious Cage and something more than the mere "bleats beyond the reckoning table."

Though I have no faith in my own estimation of what is good or deserving of praise, I do know what I hate; AND THIS I DO NOT HATE. `Landscape' is - I think - a collection of sparse and haunting melodies that seems to fit well with me when reading Joseph Campbell's "Hero" or Richard Feynman's "6 Easy Pieces." `In a Landscape' is to my ear almost great. I think this is so because I tend to lean in when I listen, and this "leaning in" is a gesture I've never offered John Cage or his music when stuck between him and his variations.

Cage for people who don't like modern music.......2004-01-25

Stephen Drury has been a great servant of John Cage's music for many years, mostly recording for small labels such as Mode (who honoured him by putting him, along with Irvine Arditti, on their 100th release). In this, one of Drury's few recordings for a major label, he concentrates on Cage's more accessible music, for piano, prepared piano (a piano with objects placed on the strings to turn it into something between a piano and a percussion instrument), organ and even a toy piano.

In A Landscape is a 1948 work in which simple Satiesque melodies are played on a piano with the sustaining pedal held down, creating a soft haze of harmonies. This could easily be simple kitsch, but Cage's careful musical judgement allows the music to be sonically beautiful without degenerating into New Age mush. Music for Marcel Duchamp, a 1947 film soundtrack for prepared piano, takes a single melodic line and spins it out intriguingly, insistent rhythms mollified by soft modal harmonies and long silences. Souvenir, a 1983 organ composition, continues the Satiesque aesthetic with its gentle progress, repetitions and modal harmonies. It is certainly sonically beautiful, though I find it goes on a little too long for my taste.

A Valentine Out Of Season is a set of three brief pieces for prepared piano, written in 1944 (the title refers to the break-up of Cage's marriage). The first piece is slow and chromatic, the second a vigorously rhythmic dance and the last combines the characteristics of the two preceding pieces. Rather slighter is the 1948 Suite for Toy Piano, which makes about as much music as can be made from an instrument with only nine notes. A major contrast to this is the 1940 Bacchanale, Cage's first work for prepared piano, a vigorous, repetitive dance that keeps suddenly losing its rhythmic vigour, then recovering it.

The disc ends with two slow pieces. The brief, white-note Prelude for Meditation was written for prepared piano in 1944 and is Satiesque in its rhythmic and harmonic restraint. Dream, a 1948 piano piece, returns to the atmosphere of In A Landscape, though I don't think it's quite as striking as that piece.

With the exception of In A Landscape, I would regard the works on this disc as minor rather than major Cage. Nonetheless, Drury's sympathetic performance approach brings out the best in these attractive pieces, and this disc would make a very good first taste of Cage for listeners of a more conservative bent.

In A Landscape = unmatched beauty.......2003-05-29

In my opinion, John Cage's In A Landscape is THE most beautiful peice for piano of absolute all time. Never has there been a classical peice for this instrument that truely got to me personally than this. And never will there ever be. In A Landscape goes beyond 'music' and is an entity in itself that speaks on many levels. It's so simple and yet is so powerful. This is a must for any music lover or/and a person who would like to get to know the many works of John Cage.

Great for old and new listeners.......2002-08-04

...For a new listener this album is perfect. It's beautiful, and accessible and just all around pleasing to listen to. The piece "In A Landscape" is the first piece I play for anyone who says they don't like John Cage. They're usually sold within the first 30 seconds of the piece. The ambience and simplicity of this piece is so striking, but Cage's take on harmony (which is especially challenging in a piece that's so focused on melody) keeps the piece from sounding new age.
Anyone just starting out with John Cage, start here. If this strikes you well, check out "Music For Changes" and then the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano. Beyond that I highly encourage anyone to do some research, read some of Cage's writings, especially a collection of essays and lectures titled "Silence." As his life progresses, his music becomes more minimal and disjointed, and his words really strike down exactly what it is he's trying to accomplish with his music, and that really helps the listener.
For listeners that are already very familiar with Cage's work, this still isn't a waste. These recordings are a great collection of some nice Cage pieces that don't get as much attention, and is still a really pleasing album to listen to.

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Music with serenity and joy and deep emotion
Relaxing and Spiritual

Dreams Of Sedona
Alexander
Manufacturer: Future Wave/New Visions
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | New Age | Styles | Music

New Visions In Sedona
Moonlight On Water
A Space Serene

ASIN: B00000I7Y6
Release Date: 1996-09-01

Tracks:

Dancing On The Red Rocks
Dreaming ina Cricket's Song
Dream of Dolphins At West Fork
A Baby's Dream
Dream of Free Space
Dream of Surfing Oak Creek
Brief Nap on Cathedral
Dream in the Light
Dream of the Eagle's View
Dream of the Native
Sax Player in the Canyon
Sublime Centering
Dream of the Mountain top
Dancer's Trance
Sweet Dreams on Rachel's Hill
Child on the Road

Album Description

Dreams of Sedona begins with a gentle but driving rhythm in which Alexander sings of dancing on Sedona's red rocks in a dream state. This sets the stage for a cinematic instrumental album that's an adventure to experience. Choosing dreams that contained elements of the landscape of Sedona, Arizona the music conveys the feelings of both the dream and the wonderful reality of this beautiful place.

Customer Reviews:

Music with serenity and joy and deep emotion.......2000-03-23

Dreams of Sedona has rich musical texture with various themes through the many cuts on this lovely CD. Alexanders music is unique. It connects directly to the heart and touches us there, awakening our deepest and highest emotions. I cannot overstate how highly I regard this music--I listen to it all the time.

Relaxing and Spiritual.......1999-12-27

I was not the only one who loved this CD. I accidentally left it in my mother's car and she immediately asked how to get her own copy. Very calming, spiritual music to listen to anytime.

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like spring water(just intonation) versus tonality(polluted)
Excellent selection

Just West Coast

Manufacturer: Bridge
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Just Guitars: Microtonal Music for Guitar
Sound Grammar

ASIN: B000003GIZ
Release Date: 1993-11-01

Tracks:

Suite No. 2: 1. Jahla - John Schneider/Amy Shulman/Gene Sterling
Suite No. 2: 2. Waltz For Evelyn Hinrichsen - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Suite No. 2: 3. Therenody - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Suite No. 2: 4. Son in Ishartum - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Suite No. 2: 5. Beverly's Troubadour Piece - John Schneider/Amy Shulman/Gene Sterling
Sarabande - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Two Studies On Ancient Greek Scales: Study on Olympos' Pentatonic - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Two Studies On Ancient Greek Scales: Study on Archytas' Enharmonic - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 1. Today I Am A Man - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 2. Gentlemen - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 3. Considered Pretty - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 4. A Very Good Idea - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 5. Possible Rides - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 6. Jesus Was God In The Flesh - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 7. You Lucky Women - John Schneider
8 Hitchhikers' Inscription: 8. Why In Hell Did You Come? - John Schneider
Dream - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
In A Landscape - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 1. Moderato - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 2. Allegro - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 3. Moderato - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 4. Allegro - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 5. Moderato - John Schneider/Amy Shulman
Six Sonatas: 6. Allegro - John Schneider/Amy Shulman

Customer Reviews:

like spring water(just intonation) versus tonality(polluted).......1999-06-27

Just intonation is based on the natural physicalness of sound,that composers and performers . We haven't, in the history of Western music, instead we have been barbarians with Tonality as our ear- icon, the Western system of what we hear(or don't hear) today is based on "bent" or altered states of vibrations, especially the intervals thirds and fifths. The problem now is that our ears have been conditioned,almost irreparably.Tonality is like an oil-slick touching every shore of World music. If you've never heard music based on just intonation, this is a great place to start. The combination harp and guitar (with some percussion here) has a pure unimpaired quality for which you will immediately say, "why haven't I ever heard this music before". The works here are also by devoted creators who have an intimate knowledge of the tuning non-Western systems of the world. Lou Harrison's music works best in smaller intimate pieces as here in the "Suite No.2". Here the tightly constructed five movements for guitar and harp has a richly diverse constitution,highlighting the solos unique melodic qualities as well as the ensemble chordal combinations. Harrison's music has a close association with the gestures of Asian music,but you always sense he is speaking his own voice always melodic yet with original shapes,lines and contours in unpredictable ways. La Monte Young's "Sarabande", originally for piano solo doesn't suffer under its transformation for guitar and harp.It sounds like wind chimes,a sense of static harmonies(purified now) drifting freely and gently. I never warmed to Partch's music. Granted his profound theories on tuning and instrument making is what the world music systems needed, still his music doesn't have the emotive eqivalence of his profound theories. The spoken text here from "Barstow: 8 Hitchhikers' Inscriptions"(1941) is simply blunt and boring reflecting an uniformed sense of the unfreedom of anarchy. "In a Landscape" by John Cage,- originally a piano piece- works better, as a harp solo with its simple arpeggiated harmonies magnetized around two tones." Dream" also by Cage works less successfully, the original G-minor piano solo has a sense of sparceness,and intimacy, where the guitar and harp combination heregently explodes thisas a miniature orchestration. Shulman and Schneider are always sensitive with a high sense of musicality and emotive direction no matter what music is in front of them.

Excellent selection.......1999-03-26

A beautiful selection of microtonal pieces. I enjoyed listening to it a lot. The booklet which comes with the CD is great and manages to explain some of the concepts behind this music. Great value.

John Cage: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 8 (Hommage à Satie)

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Satie's influence is never direct,in between the lines

John Cage: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 8 (Hommage à Satie)

Manufacturer: MD&G Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1

ASIN: B000062YLR
Release Date: 2002-04-23

Tracks:

Perpetual Tango
In A Landscape
Suite For Toy Piano (Version For Piano): I
Suite For Toy Piano (Version For Piano): II
Suite For Toy Piano (Version For Piano): III
Suite For Toy Piano (Version For Piano): IV
Suite For Toy Piano (Version For Piano): V
Cheap Imitation: I
Cheap Imitation: II
Cheap Imitation: III
Dream
Swinging
Perpetual Tango

Customer Reviews:

Satie's influence is never direct,in between the lines.......2005-01-27

Satie's influence on contemporary music was far-reaching numerous and transcendant. This reach never obvious or grandiose was through his work,his recluse life as a salon pianist and his music its exquisite,elegantly proportioned piano music He brought a conceptual fluidity,of idea, shape,and design with level of aesthetic subversion. His work always implied much more than the surfaces it produced.His music is always lyrical, captivating, haunted by something, some timeless unknown, parts of his life we may never know.He died in the late Twenties with an apartment hardly known by anyone then entered for years seeing a mound of music manuscript.
Transitionally Debussy and the French(Milhaud, Poulenc, Auric,Honegger. . . )found open pathways with Satie, this simplicity of concept, of approach to making art all within the mileau of Wagnerian domination within music's realms,opera at the transitional points. Satie (within this context)until today remains a "freedom" of sorts. He thought that music should be more than what it thinks it is, and we should finally take Beethoven,the transcendant, apocalyptic, elitist, bourgeous materials off one's writing desk. The eternal Sonata or the transcendant narrative(as German opera) is not worth pondering,when modernist innovation is there of structure and concept waiting for discovery. Satie's free conceptual fluidity,was the birth of modernity for music for as the early"Sarabandes"and "Nocturnes" it was music no one could comprehend,no threads to follow. These were points for composers and artists to follow. Satie's "Vexations" for instance a 9 hour work,is a simple two line fragement piece for piano solo, to be played incessantly hundreds of times,He was also the first to accompany film live "Ent'racte".He could make music for anything and anyone.The musical miniature is his device anti-romantic in content.(Sports et divertissements)
When we come to John Cage,the post-war now you virtually have identical paradigms at work,wars seem to always create ideological beginning points,or points of renewal in art.So now the post-modern,the loss of certainty(Adorno's enigmatic canon) the search now for greater points of accesibility.Cage's creativity sought refuge in the concept,where modern dance welcomed it, and performance art. Much of this music here on these CDs was written for The Merce Cunningham Dance Company,and works quite well, in that the simplicity of timbres makes for wonderful un-accompaniment,screens for modern dance."Dream" here is disarming in beauty, G-minor mode quite a thrill to dance to this harmonic blends,sustain pedal down throughout. Likewise I don't think Satie would have preferred to re-do a Toy Piano work for its parent large piano, it is something very different, more authoritarian. Must have been a lapse of concept for Cage."Perpetual Tango" takes you into the dance hall here a quiet one, subdued.Again Cage learned the beuty of economy from Satie, less is indeed more than enough. All the music on this disk is quite beautiful, disarming,yet you sense the smell of the greasepaint,the theatre. Cage came to think of Satie as a free reservoir to visit now and again in substitution, as :Cheap Imitation: where he alters notes from Satie's original, something composers today in 2005 still practice.Yet again the simplicity is one to devote one;s life to. The British also found fertile ground in Satie, Howard Skempton and John White.

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Very pleasant surprise

Dream: Stefan Hussong Plays John Cage
John Cage , and Stefan Hussong
Manufacturer: Denon Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000AFJH
Release Date: 1998-08-25

Tracks:

Dream
In A Landscape
Souvenir
Two3 No.5
XXI: Heath
XXXV: Framingham
XV: Bellingham
XXXIX: Weymouth
XII: Littleton
III: Funeral Anthem
XVIII: Old North

Customer Reviews:

Very pleasant surprise.......2001-05-04

I bought this CD on a whim. The thought of a John Cage "prepared accordian" was in my head. The pieces that Stefan plays are wistful, dreamy Japanese-inspired tunes. A sense a well-being and "rightness" is created where I was expecting near-cacophony and edgyness. The accordian is exactly right for the music. The tonalities of oriental flute with the chordal depth of accordian are striking and thought-provoking in the very best sense.

Of course, if your religion forbids listening to accordians, you have to pass this one up.

Utah Sun
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Utah Sun
Steve Kaul
Manufacturer: Dream Horse Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000AM3F6E
Release Date: 2004-11-02