Opening Dance for Sue Laub

In the early 1940s, John Cage was on the faculty of Mills College (in Oakland, California). While there, he wrote music to accompany the graduation theses of graduate dance students. The manuscripts for two of these works were recently rediscovered in the Mills College archives. This work is one of them, written in 1942 for Sue Laub.

Opening Dance for Sue Laub by John Cage (1912-1992). For Piano. Modern. Sheet Music. Composed 1942. 5 pages. Duration circa 2 minutes. Published by Edition Peters (P68139). ISBN 9790300754635. Modern. This delightful two-minute pieces...opens with a unison three-measure motive between the hands spaced two octaves apart....The piece seems to have had a bit of Stravinsky influence. I recommend this for a high school student looking for a good competition piece.--Dr. Vicki King, for Piano Guild Notes (Winter 2010) This piece was composed by Cage while he was accompanying dances at Mills College.