Dear Doctor Oakroot, To say that someone is missing the point pre-supposes that there is a point in the first place. There is no point in a pseudo-performance, where an audience is conned into listening to nothing. There may be some clever idea behind it all to justify the unjustifiable, but four and half minutes of silence is not music. It is not art. It is neither beautiful nor uplifting. It has no virtue. It has no meaning. It is utterly worthless. By purporting to be music, it is a lie - a shameful con - an insult to the intelligence and sensitivity of the audience. In fact the audience is put in a no-win situation: either they look stupid by accepting that the performance has merit; or they are made to look stupid, because, when they reject the charade for the meaningless poppycock that it is, they are told that they miss the point, or they lack a sense of humour. One is reminded of the story of the Emperor's new clothes, where a little boy - the only person with a modicum of common sense - unmasks the charlatans for what they are.
What irritates me about the purveyors of such tosh is their tacit assumption that we should take any of it at all seriously. I have had the misfortune to witness one of these ridiculous so-called performances some years ago on an early music course. One of the tutors, an excellent recorder player, took his turn on stage, but instead of playing music like everyone else, he pranced about pretending to play. It was not funny. He looked a fool, and I felt cheated. If I'd known he wasn't going to play anything, I'd have gone to the pub instead. Instead I wasted my time. Who knows? I may have missed some subtle, questioning-the-existence-of-it-all point, but I certainly missed a good pint. Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doctor Oakroot" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 4:58 PM Subject: [Fwd: Re: John Cage on Lute] > Someone's missing the point :) > > The point of 4'33" is what happens in the room when the audience is > exposed to it - it's music as performance art (but before anyone had > conceived of performance art). > > Like performance art, a sense of humor is required. > > The resulting art is at least as musical as, say, serialism. (Which I > mention because I've just been listening to a CD of my own serialist > compositions - didn't use any lutes, but I may next time.)
