“Something that has to do with … leaving … ”

Between the winter of 1950–51, when he began mapping out a series of “Projections” in squares on graph paper, and the attenuating final breath of “Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello” in 1987, there were fewer than 37 years. Between then and the centenary that falls on January 12 this year, there have been 39. We have therefore lived longer in the aftermath of his music than he ever lived in it.