Mostly I was at Cage's house in the afternoons. Unusually, one evening I was over in his loft on Bank Street and I heard a fierce noise, from the second floor of the loft, where I had never been privy to. Storming down the stairs came a very muscular, sleek, older looking gentleman who was wet, newly covering himself in an Asian patterned turquoise/silver robe. He had oddly patterned balding curly hair, a protruding nose, and very long feet. He was not pretty...
But it wasn't his attire, or his body, that was striking. It was the look of totally incensed jealous rage on his face that filled the space. I'm afraid I was a bit naïve and didn't really understand what was going on at the time.
Cage, again, with his self-described 'Sunny disposition', handled it with grace, but there was genuine concern, and a look of beleaguered worry on his face that I had never seen before.
Cage did not mince words, but from his facial expression, I could see that this was not a topic for polite conversation.
That is the only time I met the fiercely jealous Merce Cunningham...fortunately.
I believe Cage's social carefulness, around this issue, was probably due to his watching his second most influential teacher, after Schoenberg, Henry Cowell.
He saw Henry Cowell serve four years, of a fifteen year sentence, in 1937, at San Quentin State Prison, on a "morals" charge for his sexual choices. Cage was a prudent...as well as brilliant man.
Henry Cowell
