The Ensemble 13 is an ensemble from Baden-Baden specializing in
contemporary music. It was formed by members of the Baden Chamber Orchestra
in 1973 and founded by Manfred Reichert. The ensemble went on to present
regular guest performances at renowned festivals of contemporary music such
as the Dresden Days of Contemporary Music. It is now our pleasure to
rerelease its interpretation of the work Thirteen by John Cage from 1993.
Thirteen was composed for four woodwind instrumentalists, three brass
instrumentalists, two percussionists, and four string players. The work
belongs to the group of so-called »number pieces« that Cage began in 1987
and whose titles in each case indicate the number of participants. It is
notated in individual voices; a score does not exist. Cage himself merely
wrote words to this effect about the individual parts: »Flexible time
brackets, within which the tones are to be played.« This CD presents the
work in two versions. An interesting experiment!