Late works of Franz Liszt to Saint-Saëns. The three czárdás that Liszt wrote—titled "Czárdás", "Czárdás obstinée" and "Czárdás macabre"—are less freely treated than the Hungarian Rhapsodies and remain more specifically Hungarian than gypsy in thematic material. Their spare lines, angular rhythms and advanced harmonies show these pieces to be direct ancestors of Bartók's work. Because of these attributes, the czárdás are considered by Liszt scholars among the more interesting of the composer's late output. The same, some critics argue, cannot be said as uniformly about his Hungarian Rhapsodies 16-19, composed after he had neglected the genre 30 years. Of these four late rhapsodies, only the
Works for prepared piano by John Cage Works for prepared piano by John Cage American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992) started composing pieces for solo prepared piano around 1938–40. The majority of early works for this instrument were created to accompany dances by Cage's various collaborators, most frequently Merce Cunningham. In response to frequent criticisms of prepared piano, Cage cited numerous predecessors (such as Henry Cowell). In the liner notes for the very first recording of his most highly acclaimed work for prepared piano, "Sonatas and Interludes", Cage wrote: "Composing for the prepared piano is not a criticism of the instrument. I'm only being practical." This article