John Cage was an incredibly impactful and controversial American composer of the 20th century. He was the forerunner for the avant-garde, significantly developing nonstandard styles of music such as electroacoustic music and aleatoric music (chance-controlled). His musical developments were largely influenced by Indian philosophies like Buddhism, and his internal anarchy was influenced by Henry David Thoreau. This and his works with modern dance, helped to distinguish him as a very pivotal composer of the 20th century.
John Cage’s music was largely centered on his musical concepts of chance, in which the parameters of his music were determined by a randomizer called the I-Ching. Pieces such as “Freeman Etudes” or works from Music for Piano, …show more content…
Most of the chances involved in composition are determined by a method described in the I-Ching, an ancient Chinese manuscript on methods for randomizing. An example of first degree indeterminate music is John Cages Music of Changes (1951), in which all aspects of the composition were randomly selected using the methods of the I-Ching.
Second Degree Indeterminate: Performances in which the performance is up to chance. The music selected is notated traditionally but the performance and arrangement are left up to chance. This in Cage’s mind is the only true form of indeterminism. Almost all of John Cage’s compositions are second degree indeterminate, such as his Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano.
Third Degree Indeterminate: Visual notation of music is replaced by new verbal or artistic representations suggesting how the piece can be performed. Most commonly done with a graphic score. In which the performer chooses what pitches, rhythms and dynamics to play, only being suggested by the composer.
John Cages …show more content…
It sent me on a journey to discover something which I had thought I already knew my whole life, after all no one talks about what makes music music, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Well turns out it was not so obvious, with the help of this composers radically different beliefs, I now see what makes music unique and characteristic is similar to what makes art art. Something that could never be quantified, or made factual but is more an interpretational idea like a philosophy. I cannot tell you what you see meaning in, or furthermore I cannot say something does not have meaning to you. Therefore the boundaries of art or music’s definition are nebulous, and completely individually interpretable. For example, one of John Cage’s most famous works is a piece entitled 4’33”. A piece which has no music or sounds, and is just silence. To one person it may be the void of any music whatsoever, but to another the piece may cause deep self-reflection about their appreciation for silence itself. Continually the atmosphere created by a piece is immensely powerful, more powerful even than grandiose works of orchestral music much more complicated in nature. In conclusion this demonstrates the amorphous nature of what music is, it may invoke reaction with music, with sound, with both, or without either.
I have experienced what I think was largely the goal
John Cage’s music was largely centered on his musical concepts of chance, in which the parameters of his music were determined by a randomizer called the I-Ching. Pieces such as “Freeman Etudes” or works from Music for Piano, …show more content…
Most of the chances involved in composition are determined by a method described in the I-Ching, an ancient Chinese manuscript on methods for randomizing. An example of first degree indeterminate music is John Cages Music of Changes (1951), in which all aspects of the composition were randomly selected using the methods of the I-Ching.
Second Degree Indeterminate: Performances in which the performance is up to chance. The music selected is notated traditionally but the performance and arrangement are left up to chance. This in Cage’s mind is the only true form of indeterminism. Almost all of John Cage’s compositions are second degree indeterminate, such as his Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano.
Third Degree Indeterminate: Visual notation of music is replaced by new verbal or artistic representations suggesting how the piece can be performed. Most commonly done with a graphic score. In which the performer chooses what pitches, rhythms and dynamics to play, only being suggested by the composer.
John Cages …show more content…
It sent me on a journey to discover something which I had thought I already knew my whole life, after all no one talks about what makes music music, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Well turns out it was not so obvious, with the help of this composers radically different beliefs, I now see what makes music unique and characteristic is similar to what makes art art. Something that could never be quantified, or made factual but is more an interpretational idea like a philosophy. I cannot tell you what you see meaning in, or furthermore I cannot say something does not have meaning to you. Therefore the boundaries of art or music’s definition are nebulous, and completely individually interpretable. For example, one of John Cage’s most famous works is a piece entitled 4’33”. A piece which has no music or sounds, and is just silence. To one person it may be the void of any music whatsoever, but to another the piece may cause deep self-reflection about their appreciation for silence itself. Continually the atmosphere created by a piece is immensely powerful, more powerful even than grandiose works of orchestral music much more complicated in nature. In conclusion this demonstrates the amorphous nature of what music is, it may invoke reaction with music, with sound, with both, or without either.
I have experienced what I think was largely the goal