I think composers like John Cage need to be thought of as experimental/
philosophical. Cage was
very interested in what would happen when tones were combined (vertically or
horizontally) by chance. He
used to throw i ching stalks and coins to determine note sequences. I don't mean to
say that the resulting
music was any good; once in awhile something nice might happen. I personally don't
care for it. As for
the performance art concept: have you ever been to a play or concert where _no one_
coughed, burped,
farted, had a cell phone go off, snored, etc? Recordings just aren't realistic, much
as we have come to
enjoy them for their "purity".
But some of the minimalists, e.g. Terry Riley (In C), have produced
fascinating soundscapes which
are to a degree extended canons. Some of these pieces could easily be performed on
early instruments. I
can't say that such compositions, taken to extreme performance lengths, necessarily
make for attentive
listening. They provide ambience, and they can be a lot of fun to play. An
unamplified early music trio at
a loud neo-medieval feast is about the same!
With best regards for the holidays,
Leonard Williams
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