The influence of American composer John Cage cannot be understated. Cage, like his contemporaries, was interested in atonality, but took thisto a new extreme by introducing the element of random chance. He frequently collaborated with choreographer Merce Cunningham who set hismusic to dances which did not follow the music, further emphasizing the discontinuity and mechanization of modern life. He also pioneered non-standard use of instruments, notably with the invention of the prepared piano.But his most notorious and groundbreaking work was the composition 4'33", in which musicians play no no ...read more
The influence of American composer John Cage cannot be understated. Cage, like his contemporaries, was interested in atonality, but took thisto a new extreme by introducing the element of random chance. He frequently collaborated with choreographer Merce Cunningham who set hismusic to dances which did not follow the music, further emphasizing the discontinuity and mechanization of modern life. He also pioneered non-standard use of instruments, notably with the invention of the prepared piano.But his most notorious and groundbreaking work was the composition 4'33", in which musicians play no notes. Its statement is that music canbe heard all around us, in the sounds of the city, washing machines or even the sound of silence itself. It influenced countless experimentalcomposers and sound artists and paved the road for musique concrète, minimalism and lowercase music. This was also his ultimate statementin indeterminacy music, in which no sounds at all were predetermined and chance was dictated entirely by the environment rather than anyparameters or suggestions set by the composer. Cage's ideas also influenced many visual artists of the Beat generation and beyond, such asRobert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and the Fluxus movement, who reacted against the prevailing abstract expressionism of the time with theidea that our ordinary everyday lives are full of artistic possibilities and may even themselves be interpreted as art. « hide
