The latter performed Cage's piano works in the 1970s, but found Etudes Boreales unplayable; the first performer to find a way to play the pieces was percussionist Michael Pugliese (Pritchett, 199).
The cello parts are technically similar to Freeman Etudes: they are extremely demanding pieces composed using chance operations, every aspect of the work meticulously detailed in the score.
An excerpt from one of the etudes shows that the technique required involves the ability to jump accurately to any point on the fingerboard or beyond, which is particularly difficult in these pieces as they are to be played without vibrato (Stowell, 221):
This effectively transforms the piano etudes into percussion works (Pritchett, 199).
Cello and piano parts may be performed separately, as Etudes Boreales for cello or Etudes Boreales for piano, or simultaneously as duets, although they were composed independently.