Connections between Music and Chess
by John Greschak
July 22, 1998 - May 24, 2008
Musical Compositions Related to Chess: An Annotated
Bibliography
Musical Terms that are used in Chess
Other Connections between Music and Chess
The following resources were used to compile the original version of this list:
This piece may be unfinished. It is unclear whether or not Cage intended to write eleven more sections for the second half of the piece or if the eleven sections that have been written are to be played in reverse order for the second half.
It is not known how this piece is related to chess. There are many open questions:
Addendum: John Cage created a painting titled Chess Pieces that contains a music score, which is distributed over the 64 squares of a chessboard. This work was presented in an exhibition at the Noguchi Museum titled The Imagery of Chess Revisited (October 21, 2005 - April 16, 2006); this was an expanded version of a 1944 exhibition organized by Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst at the Julien Levy Gallery. The entry in the checklist for the exhibition at the Noguchi Museum describes the work as follows:
John Cage. Chess Pieces. 1944. Black and white ink over gouache on Masonite with recorded music.
The recorded music (of duration 7:48) was performed on piano by Margaret Leng Tan, who transcribed the score that is embedded in the painting. Tan stated the following in an interview (available at All Music Guide: Interview: Margaret Leng Tan): "There are 22 systems of music, each 12 bars long and self-contained. So what you have are 22 little 'chess pieces,' . . ." The recording is available on the album titled John Cage: The Piano Works 7 (Mode Records 158 CD and DVD). The DVD version includes a performance video and a documentary about the painting. The cover art for the CD and DVD contains of a portion of the painting. A review of the recording may be found at The John Cageblog: Chess Pieces. See also: the article Composing Chess.
Harley, B. 1931. “Music and Chess.” Music and Letters 12(3): 276-281.
The composer, Juan María Solare is also the author of several articles on various relationships between music and chess which have been published in the magazines Doce Notas, Letra Internacional, and Biblioteca de México.
Hooper, David, and Kenneth Whyld 1996. The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Randel, Don Michael, ed. 1986. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music.
Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University
Press.
Update History
July 22, 1998: Completed the first version of this page.
July 4, 1999: Added several works by Juan María Solare.
January 11, 2000: Added the entry for the song I've Seen All Good People by Jon Anderson and Chris Squire as a result of information provided by Eric Saathoff.
June 27, 2000: Added the entry for the song The Chess Players by Wayne Shorter based on information provided by Mike C. Added the entry for the album Red Queen to Gryphon Three by the band Gryphon (i.e. Richard Harvey et al.) based on information provided by Bill Martin. Also, the entry for I've Seen All Good People was expanded to mention Bill Martin's analysis of this song.
April 14, 2001: Added the entry for Shakkipeli by Leevi Madetoja based on information provided by Markus Lång. (Note: Markus Lång has compiled a comprehensive list of musical compositions inspired by Lewis Carroll at http://www.helsinki.fi/~mlang/lewis/carroll-music.html.)
May 26, 2001: Added the entry for Le Joueur D'échecs by Henri Rabaud based on information provided by Theodore van Houten.
April 26, 2003: Added the entry for Holistic Medicine by Mats Johansson. Added the entry for various songs written by Ray Bennett on the album Out of Our Hands. Both entries are based on information provided by Robert Eksteen. Added the entry for White Rabbit by Grace Slick.
December 17, 2004: Added the entry for The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Michael Nyman based on information provided by Robert Eksteen. Added the entry for Euwe Suite by Rodney Waschka II based on information provided by Philip Krumm. Added the entry for Cello and Tuba Machine by John White based on information provided by John Kent. Added information to the entry for Pawn to King 5 by Richard Wright and David Gilmour.
February 12, 2005: Added the entry for pieces written by Daniel Bouliane and André Mongeon on the album E4 by the band DAK.
July 5, 2005: Added the entry for Antyphony: Paul Morphy vs. Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard by Timothy Ernest Johnson. Added the entry for the article Jeu d'échecs et musique by Claude Pavy.
May 25, 2006: Added the entry for the album Das Schachbrett des Trommelbuben Zacharias written by Michael Haas and Emmerich Haimer (of the band Angizia) based on information provided by Robert Eksteen. Added an addendum to the entry for Chess Pieces by John Cage based on information provided by Zac Bond.
June 7, 2006: Added the entry for the piece Gary Kasparov - Black and White by Robert Jan Vermeulen based on information provided by Robert Eksteen.
May 24, 2008: Added the entry for Antyphony: Gary Kasparov vs. Deep
Blue by Timothy Ernest Johnson. Added the entry for the article
Composing Chess by Paul B. Franklin and Lowell Cross.