John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American … Read Full Bio ↴John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.
Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48).
His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933–35), both known for their radical innovations in music and coincidentally their shared love of mushrooms, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life – not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".
Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48).
His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933–35), both known for their radical innovations in music and coincidentally their shared love of mushrooms, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life – not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".
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Third Construction
John Cage Lyrics
No lyrics text found for this track.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
Brianna Trainor
The reason this music is important is because at the the time it was written, it was innovative. Think about Beethoven--if anyone today wrote the ending of a piece repeating the I and V chord like him, it would be considered a joke. Whether you enjoy the piece or not is your opinion, but you cannot deny that this IS music. Cage's Constructions have helped pave the way for the percussion world as we know it today, so I suggest taking your classification of Cage's MUSIC out of those quotations.
Jackie Rosen
AMAZING!!!! You have to see them in person in a concert. It changes your idea of what music can really be, not just formulas of 3 minute canned patterns with 3 chords....not just the same old computer-generated sounds....not just clips or copies of world music. Hearing and seeing a 30-minute piece LIVE is nothing like these small clips. A completely different experience worth having.
stravinskyrocks
Memorized! Nice work, gentlemen.
Kiwii216
What an awesome piece and performance!!
By any chance, does anybody know the name of the instrument which is played at 6:14? I love this!
Kiwii216
@***** thanks Emory! :)
G Inès Sydow
Very good work. Excellent performance :)
Feona Lee Jones
One of my favorite Cage percussion pieces...
Adrián Avellón
Genial!!
Jason Arevalo
Wow, that is so cool!
linda welsh
fantastic