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A Better Silence - John Cage and copyright. Everybody knows that John Cage, the avant-garde composer, invented silence in 1952, with his famous piece 4'33", which was premiered on 29 August of that year. 4'33" consists of a musician (or musicians), not playing their instruments for four minutes and 33 seconds, and was intended as an ambient experience rather than four minutes and 33 seconds of silence - the music is the shuffling and coughing of the musician(s) and the audience and the background hum of the performance venue - the instructions are about the conducting of silence and the demeanor of the musician(s).

A Better Silence - John Cage and copyright

"This is a deeply personal music," says Peter Gutmann, "which each witness creates to his/her own reactions to life. Concerts and records standardize our responses, but no two people will ever hear 4'33" the same way. It's the ultimate sing-along: the audience (and the world) becomes the performer. " The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (9780374249397): Alex Ross.

Classical