Musical Compositions Related to Chess: An Annotated Bibliography
Musical Terms that are used in Chess
Other Connections between Music and Chess
 
 

Musical Compositions Related to Chess

The following resources were used to compile the original version of this list:

• AltaVista (search string: +chess +music +composer).
• WorldCat (keywords: chess and music).
• The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996). Specifically, the articles: "Theatre and Chess" and "Music and Chess".
• International Index to Music Periodicals (keyword: chess).

A recording of this piano piece is available on the album titled L'Oeuvre pour piano (Alpha DB 57). A copy of this recording is available at the Mannes College of Music Library (call number: LP-03191). A biography of Jean Absil may be found at http://www.cebedem.be/composers/absil_jean/en.html.

This is a song that is on the album titled The Yes Album by the band called Yes that consisted of Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass and vocals), Tony Kaye (keyboards), Bill Bruford (drums), and Steve Howe (guitars and vocals). The song has two sections titled Your Move and All Good People. The lyrics of Your Move are related to chess. The lyrics of this song may be found at http://yesworld.com/lyrics/the_yes_album. There is an analysis of this song on pages 78-81 in the book Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock (published by Open Court Publishing Company 1996), by Bill Martin.

Chess is a musical written by Benny Andersson (music), Björn Ulvaeus (music), and Tim Rice (lyrics). The game of chess serves as a symbol of the cold war between the USA and the Soviet Union. Tim Rice's idea for the musical was inspired by the World Championship match of 1972 between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Information on this work may be found at http://hem2.passagen.se/musicals/chess.html and http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/reference/html/i.3.html.

These are five songs that are on the album titled Out of Our Hands (1973: Capitol SMAS-11218 (US), Sovereign SVNA 7260 (UK); 1993 One Way CD S21-17414) by the band called Flash that consisted of Peter Banks (guitar), Ray Bennett (bass), Colin Carter (vocals), and Mike Hough (drums). The lyrics of these songs may be found at http://www.psychosync.info/lyrics.htm#nonethewiser. Recordings are available as RealAudio files at http://www.psychosync.info/albums/outofourhands.htm.

This work is a 50-minute ballet in one scene that was composed by Sir Arthur Bliss and choreographed by Ninette de Valois. It was performed at the Paris World Exhibition. The moves of the pieces influence the form of the dancing. A biography of Sir Arthur Bliss may be found at http://www.schirmer.com/composers/bliss/bio.html.

This work is an album by the band called DAK that consists of Daniel Bouliane (keyboards and programming), André Mongeon (keyboards and programming) and Luc Grégoire (mixing and mastering). The album consists of 10 pieces that were inspired by chess: White (5:36), Black (5:34), Reflexion (4:33), P-K4 (E4) (4:44), Time Is Up (6:24), Castles (5:18), Inside Your Head (5:02), Sacrifice (4:13), Paranoid Pawn (4:29) and Checkmate (5:43). Audio samples and lyrics are available at http://ondespirale.com/e4/listen.html.

In the John Cage Music Manuscript Collection of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts there is a folder of 13 pages of handwritten music (plus one cover page) by John Cage that contains a work titled Chess Pieces (call number: JPB 95-3 Folder 109). This work (which might be for piano) appears to be of the form: aabbddeefga agfeeddbbaa. Note that the form of the second half of the piece is a mirror image of the first half. Eleven 12-bar sections have been written. Perhaps these eleven sections are to be used as the eleven sections of the first half of the piece. Mirror images are also used for smaller structures. For example, the 12 bars of the first two "a" sections are grouped as 3 bars, followed by 4 bars, followed by 5 bars (i.e. 12=3+4+5). The 12 bars of the first "b" section are grouped as 5 bars, followed by 4 bars, followed by 3 bars (i.e. 12=5+4+3).

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:

• Why is the structure of the piece based upon mirror images? Do these mirror images represent the mirror image of the arrangement of white and black pieces at the beginning of a game?
• Why are there 6 different section types (i.e. a, b, d, e, f, and g)? Is there a one-to-one correspondence between the section types and the 6 chessman types (e.g. a=pawn, b=rook, etc.)? Or, should the form be written as a2b2d2e2f1g1a1? This representation of the form suggests that the form may have been derived from algebraic notation of a particular game.
• Why are there 11 sections in each half of the piece?
• Why do all sections consist of 12 bars?
• How were the pitches selected for this piece?

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.

This piece was performed in 1968 at Ryerson Polytechnic in Toronto. Lowell Cross constructed a chess board equipped with photoreceptors that served as a gating mechanism to transmit or cut off sound produced by other musicians and to control lights. John Cage and Marcel Duchamp played a game of chess. Other participants included Teeny Duchamp, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, and David Behrman. The book Marcel Duchamp and John Cage by Shigeko Kubota (1970) contains photographs and a recording of this performance.

This piece is a ballet (choreographed by Chopinet) that is based on Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. It has a specially created game of 73 moves as its text. Source: The article "Theatre and Chess" from The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996).

This work is a short opera for 2 sopranos and a chessboard. The libretto is based upon a chess game between Ljubomir Ljubojevic and Garry Kasparov in 1987 at the Swift Blitz tournament in Brussels. Ljubojevic defeated Kasparov in this game and tied Kasparov for first place in the tournament. An audio version of the opera along with the moves of the game may be found at http://www.freechess.nl/sketchesofchess.htm.

The score and a recording of this work are available at the University of Central Arkansas Library (call numbers: M175.C65 C45 Score and M175.C65 C45 Tape).

This 10-minute work is composed of 5 short pieces: Knights (1-1/4 min.), Rooks (Castles) (1-3/4 min.), Pawns (1-1/2 min.), Bishops (2-1/2 min.) and Queens & Kings (3 min.). The journal British Music contains and article edited by Jack Denford in which Cruft talks about his music (see volume 11, 1989 and volume 12, 1990).

This work is an opera. It may be incomplete. Source: The article "Music and Chess" from The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996).

This is an album (Black Rose Productions BRP 112) consisting of 8 songs by the band called Angizia. It is based on a novella by Michael Haas, which is about two Russian chess players.

The John Carter Songbook is a collection of examples of Martian music by the Swedish composer Sten Hanson. The fourth piece in the set is titled "The Chessmen of Mars". This is a musical model of a Martian chess game called jetan which is played on a board that contains 100 squares and 20 chessmen per side. A sound is associated with each man and a pitch is assigned to each row of squares. Panning is used to distribute the squares of the chessboard. A translation (by William Brunson) of Sten Hanson's description of the John Carter Songbook from Phono Suecia nr 30 (1988) was once available at http://www.mic.stim.se/engelsk/2/johncarter.html. A biography of Sten Hanson may be found at Swedish Music Information Center.

This work is an album by the band called Gryphon that consisted of Richard Harvey (keyboards, recorders, krumhorn), Brian Gulland (bassoon, krumhorn), Graeme Taylor (guitars), David Oberlé (drums, percussion, timpani) and Philip Nestor (bass guitar) with Ernest Hart (organ) and Pete Redding (acoustic bass). The album consists of 4 instrumental pieces: Opening Move (8:15), Second Spasm (9:42), Lament (10:45) and Checkmate (9:50). Information on the band Gryphon may be found at http://www.gaudela.net/gryphon/frames.html.

This is a 15-minute song on the album titled MIND Volume 1 (Svenska Unikum SUCD 197) by the band called Isildurs Bane consisting of Klas Assarsson (percussion), Jonas Christophs (guitar), Fredrik Emilson (bass), Joachim Gustafsson (violin), Mats Johansson (keyboards), and Kjell Severinsson (drums and percussion). Throughout the song, the moves of a chess game are recited, beginning with "Pawn to king four", "Pawn to queen's bishop four" and "Knight to queen's bishop three". A recording was once available as the RealAudio file http://www.isildursbane.se/sound/medicine.ram at the Official Isildurs Bane Website.

This 4-minute work (BMI #7285210) is for antiphonal chamber orchestra. It is based on the game cited in the title. The composer writes (letter to the author, 23 April 2005): "The dramatic unfolding of the piece comes directly from the chess game." Note: This game was also used by Noel-Johnson for Sinbad the Sailor on Ice.

This 18-minute piece is intended for two pianos or one piano accompanied by a tape recording of the 2nd piano part. A biography and list of works of the Czech composer Jan Kapr may be found at http://www.musica.cz/comp/kapr.htm.

This work consists of four booklets of short pieces for piano. The third booklet contains a piece titled Jogando xadrez (Playing the game of chess). A copy of the score and a recording are available at the Indiana University Library (score: temporary control number: ACK8572) (recording: call number: LAMC TP.B8 .L1317 K1.2).

This piece is based upon J. S. Bach's Goldberg variations. It is performed on harpsichord or piano, alone or together, in original form or in jazz interpretations. The work has been recorded by John Lewis (piano) and Mirjana Lewis (harpsichord) (see: The Chess Game Phillips 832015 and The Chess Game Pt.2 Phillips 832588).

The song "Marching Mystery" on this album of songs by the Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean was inspired by a set of ancient chess pieces found on the West coast of the Isle of Lewis. This is mentioned in an article about MacLean (by Lahri Bond) that appeared in the October/November 1995 issue (No. 60) of the magazine Dirty Linen which may be found at http://www.dirtynelson.com/linen/feature/60dougie.html.

This piece is a suite of four movements: Juhlamarssi (Festive March), Kansankarkelo (Popular Fête), Miekkatanssi (Sword Dance) and Menuetto (Minuet). It was composed for the play called Shakkipeli by the Finnish poet Eino Leino. A biography of the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja may be found at Finnish Music Information Centre. A biography of Eino Leino may be found at http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/eleino.htm.

Source: The article "Music and Chess" from The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996).

This work is a ballet on ice composed by Reginald Charles Noel-Johnson. The ballet includes a living chess performance of a famous friendly game between Paul Morphy and the Duke of Brunswick. Source: The article "Theatre and Chess" from The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996).

This work is a chamber opera for soprano, tenor and baritone, with two violins, viola, two cellos, harp and piano. It is based on a case study given in the book of the same name by Oliver Sacks in which a neurologist (Dr. S) diagnoses a patient (Dr. P). Dr. P is a professional singer with a condition that causes him to misidentify objects that he sees. For example, while visiting Dr. S, he mistakes his own wife for a hatstand. During a house call, Dr. S and Dr. P play a game of chess; Dr. P plays mentally and wins easily. A recording of this work is available (CBS MK44669; see the track titled Pawn to King 4).

Jeux Imaginaires is a musical piece that is based upon the 22nd game of the 1992 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. The rhythm of the drums in the middle section was derived from the pondering times of the first 19 moves of the game. The composer writes: "I like to think of musical components (soundobjects, phrases, structures etc.) as pieces (of chess) with different charge and strength that may be placed in a variety of relationships, and where the object of composing is that of finding solid constructions of relations throughout the whole musical time." A translation (by William Brunson) of Åke Parmerud's description of Jeux Imaginaires from Phono Suecia nr 72 (1994) was once available at http://www.mic.stim.se/engelsk/2/jeuximaginaires.html. A biography of Åke Parmerud may be found at Swedish Music Information Center.

This work is the music for the 135-minute 1927 film of the same name that was directed by Raymond Bernard. A restored version of the film was released in 1998 and may be purchased from The British Film Institute. The score for this piece is available at the The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (call number: *MSP). A biography and partial list of works of the French composer Henri Rabaud may be found at http://www.hnh.com/composer/rabaud.htm.

A recording of this 13-minute piece for chamber orchestra is available on the album titled Two Contemporary Composers (Serenus Recorded Editions, 1967 - SRE 1018).

The score for this piece is available at the Cleveland Institute of Music Library (call number: M214.R447C).

This work consists of 8 pieces: Wedges and Doubles, Pearls, Extreme Leisure (or the Gallows Revisited), Bats, Billet Doux, Another Ground, Yellows, and A Game of Chess Four Centuries Ago. A biography of Ned Rorem may be found at http://www.nedrorem.com/.

The scherzo movement of this piece is labeled Simultaneous games of chess. The piece was performed at Monte Carlo in 1925. Source:

Harley, B. 1931. “Music and Chess.” Music and Letters 12(3): 276-281.

This song was recorded in 1960 on the album titled The Big Beat by the band "Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" that consisted of Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass), and Art Blakey (drums). A biography of Wayne Shorter may be found at http://www.imnworld.com/IMN/artist_view/49.

This is an 8-minute blues piece for jazz orchestra. A biography and list of works of the Czech composer Ladislav Simon may be found at http://www.musica.cz/comp/simon.htm.

This song was recorded live in1966 for the album titled Conspicuous Only In Its Absence (released 1968: Columbia CS-9624) by the band called "Great Society" that consisted of Grace Slick (vocals), Darby Slick (guitar), David Minor (guitar), Jerry Slick (drums), and Peter Vandergelder (bass). Later, it was recorded for the album titled Surrealistic Pillow (released 1967: RCA LPM/LSP-3766) by the band called "The Jefferson Airplane" that consisted of Marty Balin (rhythm guitar), Jack Casady (bass), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar), Grace Slick (vocals), and Spencer Dryden (drums). The third verse contains the lines: "When the men on the chessboard / Get up and tell you where to go". The fourth verse contains the lines: "And the White Knight is talking backwards / And the Red Queen's off with her head".

This piece is based upon a two-part poem by the Argentinean Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) titled Ajedrez from the collection "El Otro, El Mismo" (The Self and the Other). A biography and list of works of the composer Juan María Solare may be found at http://ciweb.com.ar/Solare/index2.php. The original Spanish version of the poem was once available at http://redfrog.norconnect.no/~poems/poems/03769.html. An English translation of the poem was once found at http://redfrog.norconnect.no/~poems/poems/03771.html (translator: Flemming Sørensen).

The name of this 4-1/2 minute work matches that of the chess book Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen die Gambitzüge im Schach, by Aaron Reinganum which was published in 1825 (see also: Benoni Defence).

This 20-minute work consists of 10 scenes. In the 5th scene (1-1/4 min.) which is titled Chessgame, the two actors pretend to play chess without the use of props. They are accompanied by the violin and doublebass, the latter of which strains to play in unison with the violin.

This work consists of 15 extremely short pieces that have an average duration of 12.6 seconds. The structure of each piece mirrors that of a particular concept or position in chess (e.g. Isolated pawn, Time-trouble, and Fianchetto). The work is dedicated to the Grandmaster Lothar Schmid who served as chief arbiter for several World Championship matches (including Spassky-Fischer 1972, Karpov-Korchnoi 1978 and Kasparov-Karpov 1986).

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.

In the book, Nicholas Roerich: Messenger of Beauty (published by Inner Trad 1994), Jacqueline Decter recounts a story of how Roerich offered Stravinsky two possible scenarios for a new ballet: "A Game of Chess" or "The Great Sacrifice". Stravinsky chose "The Great Sacrifice" for what was to become Le Sacre du Printemps. This chess-related quote from this book was once available at http://www.stagebill.com/dance/features/featuresarchive/sacre.html.

This is a 60-minute piece for two players performing at a chessboard controller for samplers and synthesizers (16 modules) with additional live musicians on piano, turntables/electronics, guitars and saxophones. The piece was performed on July 2, 1987 by the performance-duo consisting of Wolfgang von Stuermer and Dietrich Eichmann (under the name FIQ (Fraktion Illegaler Quomponisten)) with guests Christoph Grund, Uwe Kremp and Reimar Volker at the festival Belluard/Bollwerk in Fribourg, Switzerland. A revised version of the piece was produced by the SDR (South German Radio), in 1989. An audio excerpt, review and history of this work may be found at http://www.dietrich-eichmann.de/Seiten/Game.htm (German) and http://www.dietrich-eichmann.de/Englisch/Commentary/Game_e.htm.

This is an 8-minute piece on the album titled Portraits (Challenge Records CHR 70048) by the band called "Amsterdam Jazz Quintet" that consisted of Toon Roos (saxophones), Bert Joris (trumpet and flugelhorn), Robert Jan Vermeulen (piano and organ), Paul Berner (bass) and Joost van Schaik (drums). This work is a musical portrait of Garry Kasparov.

This 15-minute work consists of five movements (Euwe-Colle 1926, Euwe-Alekhine 1935, Alekhine-Euwe 1937, Euwe-Najdorf 1954 and Moonen-Euwe 1981), each of which is based on a particular game of chess played by Max Euwe; a Dutch mathematician and World Chess Champion (1935-7). Pitches were assigned to chessboard squares. The melodies for a given movement were determined by the moves of the corresponding game. For one movement, timbre was determined by the type of chess piece being moved. A recording of this work, which was realized using a Synclavier II, is available on the album titled Cartography (Irida 0007).

For this work, which has also been referred to as Machine for Cello and Tuba, the notes played by the tuba were determined by the moves of a knight on a musical chessboard. It was performed by John White (tuba) and Cornelius Cardew (cello) at Queen Elizabeth Hall on May 17, 1971. A review of this performance may be found at http://www.meirion-bowen.com/mbartconcerts71.htm. More recently, it was performed by Robin Hayward (tuba) and Ringela Riemke (cello) at Kryptonale 8 on October 18, 2002. Program notes (German) written by John White may be found at http://www.kryptonale.de/tubamachine.htm.

This work is a ballet that was performed by Ballet Rambert at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre in London on December 4-5, and 7, 1968 (music: Pink Floyd; setting: Michael Carney; choreographer: John Chesworth; lighting: John B. Read). A copy of the performance program is available in the Cotton Collection of the Royal Holloway Library of the University of London. Sources: http://www.rhbnc.ac.uk/~uhyl007/coton.htm, http://www.multimania.com/rmf/listeaudio.htm and http://www.pinkfloydsound.it/1969.htm.

This piece is the first known ballet with a chess theme. It was performed for Louis XIV of France. Sources: http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/reference/html/i.3.html, http://www.logicalchess.com/info/trivia/b.html and http://arsmagnalucis.free.fr/ballets16001610.htm.

Musical Terms that are used in Chess

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.
 
 

Other Connections between Music and Chess

The authors discuss the relationships among higher brain functions relating to music, mathematics and chess. The abstract of this article may be found at http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/journal/lmj4.html.

This article discusses the chekker which may have been a 15th-century musical chessboard. Each of the squares occupied by chessmen on one side had a virtue attributed to it while those of the opposite side had negative qualities. It is not known how this instrument generated sound, but it was a keyboard of some kind that may have been similar to a harpsichord. Source: The article "Chekker" from The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1996).

This article discusses various relationships between music and chess. See also: The page Echecs et Musique by the same author at: http://www.mjae.com/echecs-et-musique.html.

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 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.