The Compositions 1960 are a set of text-based musical pieces written in 1960 by composer La Monte Young.
Building on the work of John Cage, these pieces are unique in their emphasis on performance art and unconventional actions, such as releasing a butterfly into the room (#5), building a fire in front of the audience (#2), or pushing a piano into a wall (Piano Piece for Terry Riley #1).
During that summer, Stockhausen frequently discussed the music of American Composer John Cage.
[1] A year later in 1960, Young did indeed have the opportunity to study with Cage and Richard Maxfield in New York.
In the event that the performance is broadcast, the microphone may be brought up close to the fire[3] La Monte Young planned to perform the piece in an auditorium at Berkeley, but the director of the noon concerts would not allow it, presumably because of the fire hazard.
[5] Instructions: Announce to the audience when the piece will begin and end if there is a limit on duration.
[3] Young additionally specifies that a poster indicating the title of the piece may be optionally placed near the stage.
Additionally, tickets may be sold which allow audience members to join the performers on stage.
In #7, the entirety of the score consists of two notes: a B3 and F#4, and the instruction "To be held for a long Time."
Any number and combination of instruments may play this piece, so long as the instructions are carried out.
Musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock remarks about this piece, [Composition 1960: #7] evoked a large number of ancillary sounds (mostly audience noises) but also revealed to those who continued to listen a whole inner world of fluctuating overtones in the open fifth as sustained by the players.
[3] A thirty-nine-minute version for synthesizer and electronic tanbura by The Never Arriving was recorded and released in 2017.
This piece, dated October 1960, is dedicated to Young's artist friend (at the time) Robert Morris.
[1] Instructions: Open the keyboard cover without making, from the operation, any sound that is audible to you.
Instructions: Push the piano up to a wall and put the flat side flush against it.