John Cage Chess
Pieces; Sonatas & Interludes/Vittorio Rieti Chess Serenade (Classical
Music DVD-Video)
Picture: C
Sound: B- Extras: B- Films: B-
Is there a way to explore the complex game of chess musically? Chess has been used as a measurement of
intelligence in The Cold War, development of Artificial Intelligence and
exploration of human intelligence all the way to Science Fiction and the top
universities of the world. John Cage
Chess Pieces; Sonatas & Interludes/Vittorio Rieti Chess Serenade offers two pieces that explore the
ideas in musical terms that are more complex than they may first seem.
Margaret
Leng Tan plays the pieces on camera at their full length for posterity and so
we can hear them in full. I do not know
if any of the pieces added up to any direct answers about chess and humans, but
they at the least are explorations that offer a generic corpus about the game
to explore with a musical starting point that may amount to something
unexpected later. In addition, I was
recently reminded that the way chess moves are explained and noted have changed
since the 1960s and Cage wrote this piece back in 1944. It might just make a fine reference point at
that.
The 1.33 X 1 full frame image has more breakup than one
would like in all cases, despite being a set of simple static shots of Tans
piano playing. It is in color and
watchable despite this. The sound is
here in PCM 2.0 96/24 CD Stereo, as well as 5.0 Dolby Digital and DTS 5.0, all
of which are good, but limited in surrounds and the absolute clarity we have
heard in most such Mode releases. Extras
include a 24 page booklet and paper insert in the DVD case and three related
documentary pieces to enhance the history and content of the music.
- Nicholas Sheffo
