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.
A guide to John Cage's music. John Cage. A wolf in sheep's clothing. Not my aphorism, but the epithet of Michael Finnissy, a composer who worked with Cage and who deeply admires him, but who suggests that the Cageian legacy is something that needs deconstruction as well as celebration. Behind that beatifically smiling visage, the charming prophet of (apparent) freedom, egolessness and openness, there could lurk a more conventionally controlling figure, a creative spirit just as fiercely rigorous and as conscious of his own significance as any of the other titans of the 20th century.
What's worth remembering and genuinely celebrating in Cage's centenary year (yes, he – just! – fits in with the inclusionary criteria for this series) is that Arnold Schoenberg was out of order when he described Cage not as a composer, but "an inventor – of genius". It's easy to be seduced by that line of thinking. But that's to forget about something really rather important: Cage's music.
Does that, then, make Cage a big musical wolf? Works for prepared piano by John Cage. American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992) started composing for prepared piano in 1940.[1] The majority of early works for this instrument were created to accompany dances by Cage's various collaborators, most frequently Merce Cunningham. In response to frequent criticisms of prepared piano, Cage cited numerous predecessors (such as Henry Cowell). In the liner notes for the very first recording of his most highly acclaimed work for prepared piano, Sonatas and Interludes, Cage wrote: "Composing for the prepared piano is not a criticism of the instrument.
I'm only being practical. "[2] This article presents a complete list of Cage's works for prepared piano, with comments on each composition. Solo[edit] Bacchanale[edit] Composed in 1940[1] for a choreography by the American dancer Syvilla Fort, this was the first piece Cage composed for prepared piano. Totem Ancestor[edit] Composed in 1942 for a dance by Merce Cunningham. And the Earth Shall Bear Again[edit] Primitive[edit] [edit]
Sonatas and Interludes. A piano prepared for a performance of Sonatas and Interludes Sonatas and Interludes is a collection of twenty pieces for prepared piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1946–1948, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy and the teachings of art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, both of which became major influences on the composer's later work. Significantly more complex than his other works for prepared piano,[1][2] Sonatas and Interludes is generally recognized as one of Cage's finest achievements.[3][4] History of composition[edit] Cage underwent an artistic crisis in the early 1940s.[6] His compositions were rarely accepted by the public,[7] and he grew more and more disillusioned with the idea of art as communication.
Listen .[14]) Cage also stated that Sonata XVI, the last of the cycle ( listen ), is "clearly European. John Cage with the pianist Maro Ajemian, to whom he dedicated Sonatas and Interludes Analysis[edit] Example 1. John Cage’s Silence and Noise. On August 29, 1952, David Tudor walked onto the stage of the Maverick Concert Hall, near Woodstock, New York, sat down at the piano, and, for four and a half minutes, made no sound.
He was performing “4'33",’’ a conceptual work by John Cage. It has been called the “silent piece,” but its purpose is to make people listen. “There’s no such thing as silence,” Cage said, recalling the première. “You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the third people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out.” This past July, the pianist Pedja Muzijevic included “4'33" ” in a recital at Maverick, which is in a patch of woods a couple of miles outside Woodstock. Cage’s mute manifesto has inspired reams of commentary.
On a simpler level, Cage had an itch to try new things. Many people, of course, won’t hear of it. Cage’s passion for silence, it seems, had political roots. John Cage :: An Autobiographical Statement. What follows is John Cage's "Autobiographical Statement"(1990), which, in time, will transform into a fully animated multimedia version. Hyperlinked words will take you to a wealth of materials across media -- some drawn from the archives of the John Cage Trust, some discovered within the folds of the World Wide Web, some newly created.
While we work to create these links (both content and access), we ask that you consider submitting for consideration your own contributions, which may take the form of text, video, music, and/or images (files or links). Like our "Folksonomy," this aspect of the website means to infinitely expand. I once asked Aragon, the historian, how history was written. He said, "You have to invent it. " When I wish as now to tell of critical incidents, persons, and events that have influenced my life and work, the true answer is all of the incidents were critical, all of the people influenced me, everything that happened and that is still happening influences me.