In 2012, Decibel staged John Cage’s eight Variations I through to VIII as part of a single performance in Perth and other locations.

Last week’s opening night at Perth gallery and architecture studio the WALLACE was accompanied by live presentations of Variations I, II and III. 

The evening also launched a book of essays about Cage’s full Variations suite and Decibel’s treatment of the eight works, which is accompanied by an audio recording.

Cat Hope, Lindsay Vickery and Tristan Parr. Photo © Kai Low

Decibel members Cat Hope, Lindsay Vickery and others in the book argue that the suite of Variations I to VIII, composed over the 20 year period of 1958 to 1978, sketch a trajectory in the evolution of Cage’s thinking about music, sound and indeterminacy.

Variations I and II, for example, consist of “discontinuous sound events” distributed in an “asymmetrical” manner (p. 40), and have generally been played on acoustic instruments common within orchestral and chamber music. For Variations I, Decibel used bass flute (Hope), bass clarinet (Vickery), and cello (Tristan Parr).

The effect was a quiet, punctuated version of what composer Warren Burt calls “note-music, and music of...