Tom, You are well informed on aspects of Cage's life and music and deliver your thoughts with eloquence. Thank you.
Cage questioned everything musical and, from what I understand, felt in no way compelled to follow convention. Like his music or not (I like much of it - am still struggling to understand some), his innovation did influence musical thought for some years. I agree, Oliver Messiaen (another of my favorites), Boulez, Alban Berg and other 20th century greats do indeed owe him a debt. Cage was a pioneer. He constantly challenged boundaries and somehow made it okay for others to take their music where it may not have otherwise gone. Cage was passionate about the use of "chance" in his works ... maybe that was his convention. In May of 1973, I was fortunate to be able to spend a day with John Cage hunting morel mushrooms (one of his favorite endeavors in later years) in the north Michigan woods. He had agreed to visit the composition class at a small music school in northern Michigan I was attending at the time. Strangely enough, most of our conversation was about non-musical subjects.... rather, I should say, "non-compositional". I think the woods had a profound effect on him. That of course, was 30 years ago and memory fades but, to this day, I'm struck by both the quiet intensity of his persona- and his love and reverence for all life. That was the only time only time I met John Cage. . I, for one, see no duality in your love of things serial and your interest in the lute. My musical interests float between early music, what we called "avante garde" 20th century , and serial music. I might leave one genre for a while, but I always come back. John Cage's music on the lute...... why not? Best wishes, Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 6:38 PM Subject: John Cage > Though I was never, even in my most radical student days, an admirer of > Cage's music, his influence has been enormous. The music I always found profoundly > dull, the notorious 4' 33" silly (though it must be one of the first pieces of > concept art in modern times (pace Duchamps et al). But questions like his > 'Why is a Beethoven symphony more interesting than a cow bell?' is much less easy > to answer than might at first seem. One usually ends up arguing in circles, > 'Beethoven is better than a cow bell because Beethoven us better than a cow > bell'. And the concept of silence or the effects of extraneous noise not only in > the world in the world around us, but also in music itself, is something that, > as Howard pointed out, often overlooked. As regards silence, Webern made its > dramatic effect clearer than ever before, and I find it difficult to imagine a > time when I didn't hear, say, the beginning of the 'Eroica' without taking > into account the effect of the pauses (there are, of course, countless other > examples of the structural significance of silence in classical music). > > Cage knew what he was doing, and why. Of course he was an iconoclast, but a > fascinating one, like so many intelligent Americans. We Europeans tend to look > at our heritage in an incestuous way, while the Americans see it from the > outside, and ask, perfectly sensibly, 'Why all the fuss?' I first came across this > as a post-grad in Oxford in the 1960s, where many of my best friends were > Americans. Initially one was shocked by their questions, but very soon saw that > they were in reality questioning not the 'thing in itself', but our European > attitude towards it, encrusted with devotion, history, reverence because it was > 'old', and convinced it was 'great' because we had been told by the powers > that be that it was. Their attitude was, 'What does it mean to ME?', and not > what the establishment intend it to mean to me. It was intensely refreshing, and > has certainly left its mark on me for life. 'Go your own way', was the > message, 'Do your own thing, and if the toffs don't like it, well, hard luck on the > toffs!' > > There is lot to be said for that. Friends think it odd that a lover of serial > music like me should take up the lute, but, following the lesson my American > friends taught me, I've always gone my own way, and am glad I've done so. John > Cage is part of that way of thinking. He questioned the basis of European > music, above all its love of itself, and that was a great moment in the recent > history of the art. Boulez, Messiaen and others owe a huge debt to him, for he > helped return sound to the world of sound, and it no longer was there merely to > portray things, landscapes, feelings, etc., but simply to be sound for its > own wonderful sake. Mallarme, did much the same for poetry. But as I say, I > never liked Cage as a musician. But as a pointer and prophet, he was peerless. > Cheers > > Tom > > --
