Many observers have suggested that in John Cage’s late “number pieces” it’s the players, rather than the music itself, that carry the performance. The score for Five3, after all, simply consists of bits of music– single notes or short phrases– bracketed by a starting time on one side and the range of time for completing the bit of music on the other. This piece, then, is a 40-minute stretch of quiet held tones punctuated by silences, and the performance is phenomenal. Trombonist Monique Buzzarté and the Arditti members often play microtones apart, with impossible intensity. The Arditti has recorded lots of Cage, and it shows: their bowstrokes are as clear and unwavering as Cage’s line drawings. With so much pianissimo playing, you hear the light friction of bow against string, and bow changes are absolutely seamless. This is a stunning addition to Mode’s ongoing Complete John Cage Edition, for which this is the 19th disc.
