in 1980 cage abandoned the cycle, partly because zukofsky attested that the pieces were unplayable. the first seventeen etudes were completed, though, and books i and ii (etudes 1–16) were published and performed (the first performance of books i and ii was done by jános négyesy in 1984 in turin, italy). violinist irvine arditti expressed an interest in the work and, by summer 1988, was able to perform it at an even faster tempo than indicated in the score, thus proving that the music was, in fact playable. arditti continued to practice the etudes, aiming at an even faster speed, apparently misreading cage's indication in the score to play every measure in "as short a time-length as his virtuosity permits", in which cage simply meant that the duration is different for each performer. inspired by the fact that the music was playable, cage decided to complete the cycle, which he finally did in 1990 with the help of james pritchett, who assisted the composer in reconstructing the method used to compose the works (which was required, because cage himself forgot the details after 10 years of not working on the piece).