The first recording of Cage's large scale composition for 3 recorder players: the Trio Dolce wrote to Cage for permission to perform Solo with Obbligato Accompaniment on three alto recorders, one octave higher than the prescribed range, to which he agreed.

They performed it in July 1988 with Cage in attendance and his enthusiastic reaction encouraged Trio Dolce to ask if he would consider writing a work for them taking into account the ranges of their recorders.The result was Three, dedicated to Trio Dolce, premièred in July 1990 in the presence of the composer. It requires great virtuosity and breath control, changing recorders and maintaining a continuous legato, resulting in a sometimes fragile balance between duration and dynamics.