John Cage 100th Anniv. Countdown Event.
1953 - 1958. John Cage. Not to be confused with John Cale. John Cage Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, which is performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians who present the work do nothing aside from being present for the duration specified by the title. The content of the composition is not "four minutes and 33 seconds of silence," as is sometimes assumed, but rather the sounds of the environment heard by the audience during performance.[7][8] The work's challenge to assumed definitions about musicianship and musical experience made it a popular and controversial topic both in musicology and the broader aesthetics of art and performance.
Cage was also a pioneer of the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by objects placed between or on its strings or hammers), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces. Life[edit] 1912–31: Early years[edit] Cage enrolled at Pomona College in Claremont as a theology major in 1928. The world’s slowest and longest piece of music: John Cage’s As S. As Slow As Possible was composed by John Cage, arguably the most influential American composer of the 20th century. It was originally a 20-minute piece for piano, but later expanded by some crazy group of theologians, musicologists, philosophers, composers and organists to an unbelieveable 639 years.
Yes, that means the song will take 639 years from start to finish. It was first played sometime in 2003, on a church organ in Halberstadt, Germany. The first 3 notes will last for more than a year! Needless to say, it won’t be of much interest if you’d actually sit down and listen to it. In fact, for the first 17 months, all that was heard was the sound of “the organ’s bellows being inflated”. Question: But why 639? SourceThe BBC, Feb 2003. John Cage - Water Walk. John Cage about silence. John Cage Sonata V. John Cage about silence. John Cage: "Dream"
Ego Noise 1950-1951. Seeking Silence 1946-1950. 1962 - 1992.