One of the reasons behind Cage's fame is through his unorthodox use of instruments and most notably, the piano. Using bolts, weather stripping, screws and what not, he would get percussive sounds out of this classic instrument. It is noted that he was already doing similar work while studying under Henry Cowell, assisting his teacher in muting strings with his hands and fingers. It was only later when asked to compose a piece which would evoke African percussive music and equipped only with a piano (the performance space only had space for this instrument) that Cage used such an innovative solution. One can hear many of his best known compositions (including some of the earliest material for prepared piano like Bacchanale) on this collection. There is probably no better introduction to Cage's prepared piano compositions out there (marvelously executed by Hinterhäuser).