John Cage Complete Works (2024)

FAQs

Is 4 minutes 33 seconds music? ›

4′33″, musical composition by John Cage created in 1952 and first performed on August 29 of that year. It quickly became one of the most controversial musical works of the 20th century because it consisted of silence or, more precisely, ambient sound—what Cage called “the absence of intended sounds.”

In fact, Cage intended 4'33" to be experimental—to test the audience's attitude to silence and prove that any auditory experience may constitute music, seeing that absolute silence cannot exist.

One of the most influential 20th century composers, John Cage pioneered a body of music that he described as “the contemporary transition from keyboard-influenced music to the all-sound music of the future.” From 1930 to 1950 Cage composed over 16 percussion scores and invented compositional procedures and theories ...

Cage's early compositions were written in the 12-tone method of his teacher Schoenberg, but by 1939 he had begun to experiment with increasingly unorthodox instruments such as the “prepared piano” (a piano modified by objects placed between its strings in order to produce percussive and otherworldly sound effects).

The piece "Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds" by John Cage was controversial because the musician did not play anything for four minutes and thirty-three seconds.

Well, since most songs are 3–4 minutes, anywhere between 30–40 songs is about 2 hours.

John Cage has been lauded as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4”²33”³, 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.

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. These include Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48).

The first version of the work contains 3 movements lasting 33", 2'40" and 1'20", each chance determined.

4. John Cage and mushrooming. He may have been the king of 20th-century musical avant-gardism but John Cage spent much of his life living a hand-to-mouth existence, supplementing his income by collecting mushrooms, which he then sold for hundreds of dollars.

What is the masterpiece of John Cage? ›

His most famous composition -- "433 " (1952) -- required no instruments whatsoever. The performer was simply instructed to sit silently onstage for the duration of the piece -- 4 minutes 33 seconds -- while the audience listened to whatever sounds were taking place around it.

A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic 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 composers of the 20th century.

4'33" was inspired by Cage's visit to Harvard's anechoic chamber, designed to eliminate all sound, but instead of expected silence Cage was amazed and delighted to hear the pulsing of his blood and the whistling of his nerves. Most music is trivialized by attempts to describe it.

John Cage, the prolific and influential composer whose Minimalist works have long been a driving force in the world of music, dance and art, died yesterday at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. He was 79 years old and lived in Manhattan. He died of a stroke, a hospital spokesman said.

John Cage was an avant-garde American composer who had a major influence on twentieth-century musical composition. He is associated with a genre called chance music, which leaves certain aspects of a piece to chance or the performer's decisions.

4'33'' is a very happy song by John Cage with a tempo of 54 BPM. It can also be used double-time at 108 BPM. The track runs 4 minutes and 33 seconds long with a F key and a major mode.

One reason why songs are typically three to four minutes long is due to the limitations of the 78 RPM record, which could only hold a certain amount of music. As technology evolved, the 45 RPM record and later the LP allowed for longer songs, but the three to four-minute length remained the standard.

The bottom number in time signature tells you what note values those beats are. If the bottom number is a 4, it means the beats are quarter notes (four quarter notes in a measure). If the bottom number is 2, it means the note value is half notes(half notes per measure).

The root of the "three-minute" length is likely derived from the original format of 78 rpm-speed phonograph records; at about 3 to 5 minutes per side, it's just long enough for the recording of a complete song.