The human voice is a magical instrument and John Cage's gargantuan opus, Song Books [Solos for Voice 3-92], is a magnificent homage. These performances by Lore Lixenberg, Gregory Rose, and Robert Worby are a stunning achievement, and their first complete recording makes a welcome [and long overdue] addition to the ever-expanding catalog of Cage's recorded works. Laura Kuhn / The John Cage Trust. This year, 2012, the maverick, American, experimental composer John Cage would have been 100 years old. He defined experimental music in the 1930s and, since that time, his ideas, his music and his work have been copied by hundreds of other composers and musicians time and time and time again. Anybody who claims to make experimental music today has to acknowledge their debt to John Cage. He composed Song Books in 1970. This work comprises 90 Solos for Voice. 90 individual pieces of music involving the voice, electronics and theatrical action. A few of these Solos have been recorded ... but only a few. Now, for the first time, all of the Solos in Song Books are gathered together in a recording. This double CD features individual Solos for Voice and several super-mixes that simultaneously combine and layer many Solos creating a typical Cage-like experience of complexity, playfulness and glorious sound. Every individual Solo for Voice will be downloadable from the Sub Rosa website - Robert Worby