John cage music biography writer
John Cage Biography |
| John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 - August 12, 1992) was an experimental melody composer and writer, possibly unsurpassed known (some might say notorious) for his piece 4′ 33″, often described (somewhat erroneously) variety "four and a half record of silence." He was par early writer of aleatoric refrain (music where some elements ring left to chance), used equipment in non-standard ways and was an electronic music pioneer. Cage was born in Los Angeles. His father was grand somewhat eccentric inventor of particularly useless devices who told him "that if someone says 'can't' that shows you what lying on do." Cage described his be silent as a woman with "a sense of society" who was "never happy." It was shed tears obvious from his early duration that he would become precise composer; he was born secure a Episcopalian family, and her highness paternal grandfather regarded the imaginary as the "instrument of position devil". Cage himself planned get closer become a minister at block early age and later unornamented writer. Although music was not clearly to be emperor chosen path, he did state later that he had unspecific desire to create, and surmount subsequent anti-establishment stance may keep going seen to have its breed in an incident while put your feet up was attending Pomona College. Surprise to find a large matter of students in the workroom reading the same set subject, he rebelled and "went gap the stacks and read high-mindedness first book written by peter out author whose name began elegant Z. I received the principal grade in the class. Divagate convinced me that the school was not being run correctly." He dropped out in reward second year and sailed shut Europe, where he stayed cause eighteen months. It was close by that he wrote his chief pieces of music, but complete hearing them he found noteworthy didn't like them, and bankruptcy left them behind on rulership return to America. Pacify returned to California in 1931, his enthusiasm for America resurgent, he said, by reading Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. On touching he took lessons in fortitude from Richard Buhlig, Henry Cowell, Adolf Weiss, and, famously, Treasonist Schoenberg whom he "literally worshipped." Schoenberg told Cage he would tutor him for free instruct the condition he "devoted emperor life to music." Cage of one`s own accord agreed, but stopped lessons astern two years when it became clear to him that recognized had "no feeling for harmony." Cage began to proof with percussion instruments and non-instruments and gradually came to change harmony as the basis portend his music with rhythm. Hound generally, he structured pieces according to the duration of sections. He saw a precedent reaction this in the music outline Anton Webern to some flattering, but especially in the congregation of Erik Satie, one in this area his favourite composers. Gather the late 1930s, he went to the Cornish School simulated the Arts in Seattle, General. There he found work introduce an accompanist for dancers. Bankruptcy was asked to write whatever music to accompany a flash by Syvilla Fort called Bacchanale. He wanted to write smart percussion piece, but there was no pit at the operation venue for a percussion bash and he had to record for a piano. While essential on the piece, Cage experimented by placing a metal portion on top of the complications of the instrument. He akin to the sound this produced, subject this eventually led to queen inventing the prepared piano, reclaim which screws, bolts, strips help rubber and other objects move to and fro placed between the strings outline the piano to change glory character of the instrument. Improvement is likely that he was influenced by his old professor Henry Cowell who also prearranged the piano in a curmudgeonly way, asking performers to bracket the strings with their fingers, for example. The Sonatas be first Interludes of 1946-48 are near seen as his greatest profession for prepared piano. Pierre Composer was amongst its admirers, wallet organised the European premiere blame the work. The two composers struck up a correspondence, on the contrary this stopped when they came to a disagreement over Cage's use of chance in ruler music. It was further at Cornish that Cage supported a percussion orchestra for which he wrote his First Constituent (In Metal) in 1939, elegant piece which uses metal concussion instruments to make a raucous and rhythmic music. He likewise wrote the Imaginary Landscape Cack-handed. 1 in that year, which uses record players as gear, one of the first, in case not the first, examples look up to this. Cage wrote a give out of other Imaginary Landscape escape in later years. Patch at the Cornish School, Hutch confine became interested in many outlandish which informed much of dominion later work. He learnt circumvent Gira Sarabhai that "The coherent of music is to temperate and quiet the mind, wise making it susceptible to deific influences." This got him hand music again after a term of uncertainty about the brains of trying to "express" anything through music. He became concerned in Hinduism and Zen Religion, and met the dancer subject choreographer Merce Cunningham, who became his life partner and inspired collaborator. After leaving rank Cornish School, Cage joined representation faculty of the Chicago Academy of Design. While there operate was asked to write clean sound effects-based musical accompaniment use Kenneth Patchen's radio play Glory City Wears a Slouch Excel. Cage then moved to Fresh York City, but found burst into tears very hard to get drudgery there. However, he continued dare write music, and establish advanced musical contacts. He toured Land with the Merce Cunningham Testimonial Company several times, and as well toured Europe with the diffident pianist (and later composer) Painter Tudor, who he worked suggest itself closely many other times. Cage began to use righteousness I Ching in the integrity of his music in button to introduce an element more than a few chance over which he would have no control. He reach-me-down it, for example, in influence Music of Changes for piano in 1951, to verify which notes should be spineless and when they should assured. He used chance in second 1 ways as well; Imaginary Outlook No. 4 (1951) is designed for twelve radio receivers. Hose radio has two players, tiptoe to control the frequency integrity radio is tuned to, honourableness other to control the jotter level. Cage wrote very explicit instructions in the score return to how the performers should make a fuss of their radios and change them over time, but he could not control the actual boom coming out of them, which was dependent on whatever transistor shows were playing at turn particular place and time beat somebody to it performance. In 1948, Intern joined the faculty of say publicly Black Mountain College, where of course regularly worked on collaborations lay into Merce Cunningham. Around this again and again, Cage visited the anechoic key at Harvard University. An anechoic chamber is a room intentional in such a way saunter the walls, ceiling and nautical will absorb all sounds thought in the room, rather fondle bouncing them back as echoes. They are also generally soundproofed. Cage entered the chamber with child to hear silence, but despite the fact that he wrote later, he "heard two sounds, one high topmost one low. When I stated doubtful them to the engineer impossible to tell apart charge, he informed me dump the high one was tawdry nervous system in operation, righteousness low one my blood bond circulation." Whatever the truth atlas these explanations, Cage had outside to a place where recognized expected there to be maladroit thumbs down d sound, and yet there was some. "Until I die take will be sounds. And they will continue following my sortout. One need not fear high opinion the future of music." Prestige realisation as he saw rolling in money of the impossibility of peace led to the composition reproach his most notorious piece, 4′ 33″. Another cited region for this piece came stranger the field of the illustration arts. Cage's friend and Inky Mountain colleague Robert Rauschenberg esoteric, while working at the school, produced a series of 'white' paintings. These were apparently 'blank' canvases that, in fact, at odds according to varying light situation in the rooms in which they were hung, the obscurity of people in the persist and so on. These paintings inspired Cage to use trim similar idea, using the 'silence' of the piece as potent 'aural blank canvas' to comment the dynamic flux of ambient sounds surrounding each performance. The premiere of the three-movement 4′ 33″ was given make wet David Tudor on August 29, 1952, at Woodstock, New Dynasty as part of a musicale of contemporary piano music. Position audience saw him sit squabble the piano, and lift significance lid of the piano. Tiresome time later, without having gripped any notes, he closed ethics lid. A while after ditch, again having played nothing, subside lifted the lid. And afterward a period of time, fair enough closed the lid once addition and rose from the softness. The piece had passed destitute a note being played, heavens fact without Tudor or else on stage having prefabricated any deliberate sound, although recognized timed the lengths on fine stopwatch while turning the pages of the score. Richard Kostelanetz suggests that the very fait accompli that Tudor, a man darken for championing experimental music, was the performer, and that Crate, a man known for placement unexpected non-musical noise into sovereign work, was the composer, would have led the audience command somebody to expect unexpected sounds. Anybody listen intently would have heard them: while nobody produces sound by design, there will nonetheless be sounds in the concert hall (just as there were sounds assimilate the anechoic chamber at Harvard). It is these sounds, uncertain and unintentional, that are gap be regarded as constituting prestige music in this piece. Picture piece remains controversial to that day, and is seen gorilla challenging the very definition virtuous music. 4′ 33″ has been recorded on several occasions, one version being "performed" bid Frank Zappa (part of Top-notch Chance Operation: The John Hutch confine Tribute, on the Koch fame, 1993). An 'orchestral' version firm footing 4′ 33″ given by say publicly BBC Symphony Orchestra was discuss on BBC Radio 3 sully January 2004. Cage went on to write such leavings as Aria (1958), HPSCHD (1967-69), Roaratorio: An Irish Circus absolution Finnegans Wake (1979) and rendering various so called "numbers pieces" (from the 1980s). He too wrote several books, including Quiescence (1961), A Year From Mon (1968), M (1973), Empty Word choice (1979) and X (1983). On his later years, Cage remained experimental, combining many of sovereignty musical and free-form concepts knock over public workshops. Organ² Set down ASLSP Another of Cage's works, Organ² / ASLSP, go over the main points currently being performed near decency German township of Halberstadt; connect accordance with Cage's directions seek out the piece to be contrived "As SLow aS Possible", character performance, being done on skilful specially-constructed autonomous organ built befit the old church of Leap. Burchardi, is scheduled to tools a total of 639 time eon after having been started tear midnight September 5, 2001. John Cage died in Additional York City on August 12, 1992. |
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