John Cage’s practicality transformed the piano into a full percussion orchestra and a workbench for sonic experiment. Three Dances is one of his most ambitious works for prepared piano, often involving spectacular virtuosity and exciting wildness of texture and color reminiscent of Balinese gamelan. Striking the balance which shows Cage’s mastery of form and sensitivity in instrumentation, Music for Two includes bowed piano techniques to create shifting tapestries of subtle expression, making for some of the most exquisite and moving chamber music of the late 20th century. This is the second of a three volume series, Volume 1 of which can be found on Naxos 8.559726.