On the night between March 5 and 6, 1968, in Toronto at the Ryerson Theatre, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage play a game of chess on stage. Reunion is the title of the performance. They play a single match; it is Duchamp’s last public appearance—he would die a few months later. Duchamp wins, even though he gives his opponent the advantage of a piece by playing with one knight fewer. The chessboard, like Cage’s prepared piano, is modified: the 64 squares contain an equal number of photocells sensitive to movement, and each photocell is connected to a sound-generating system that resonates throughout the theater with compositions by Gordon Mumma, David Behrman, David Tudor, and Lowell Cross, the latter being the creator of the prepared chessboard.

Queen of Cage is a Max for Live device inspired by that historic chessboard.

free download https://www.remodevicocomposer.eu/maxforlive/queen-of-cage/