conscious efforts. If any logic or reflection comes between brush and paper, the whole effect is spoiled.
While influenced by Suzuki, Cage does differ slightly. In the above passage, John Cage would learn to remove the “as if” phrase in his personal philosophies on music. Through use of chance methods and indeterminate music, essentially John Cage removes himself completely from the music. He allows the performer to create the music themselves. He is not simply letting the brush be guided AS IF by someone else, he literally is letting someone else do the brushing. Chance music (aleatoric music) has been around since the time of Mozart. It is the art of creation of music by chance techniques (the most common technique is using dice). John …show more content…
Cage follows Suzuki’s idea, that supreme knowledge will be attained – not by denying the senses – but cultivating unattached sense activity. By removing all pre-planned musical ideas (notes, rhythms, etc.), and allowing silence to be the “music” it cultivates unattached sense activity in the audience and musician: “When the mind is used to perceive and not to discriminate or analyze, it is referred to in Zen as no-mind, because it is refraining from the processes commonly associated with the function of the mind”. Another one of Cage’s pieces that implements a chance technique is Music for Piano: 21. This piece has indeterminate rhythms and tempo. Cage divides up the bars in his work to represent temporal regions. It is unknown how Cage determined the specific pitches or sonorities, but one can presume that Cage chose the pitches using a chance operation (such as rolling dice). In Music for Piano: 21, the performer decides how fast to play based on where the notes are on the page, this results in an indeterminate piece in which the performer creates most of the music rather than the composer (refer to figure …show more content…
His music was influenced primarily by D.T Suzuki’s philosophies on Zen. This manifested in Cage’s ability to “let go” of his art. Essentially creating indeterminate, chance, and silent music, Cage relinquished the control of the art of composition to the performing artist, or in some cases, the ambient noises of the performance space. His works are often miss-understood, yet if one can understand the importance of appreciating music and sound in its suchness without the interference of logic or reasoning, one can come to better appreciate the monumental accomplishments of John
While influenced by Suzuki, Cage does differ slightly. In the above passage, John Cage would learn to remove the “as if” phrase in his personal philosophies on music. Through use of chance methods and indeterminate music, essentially John Cage removes himself completely from the music. He allows the performer to create the music themselves. He is not simply letting the brush be guided AS IF by someone else, he literally is letting someone else do the brushing. Chance music (aleatoric music) has been around since the time of Mozart. It is the art of creation of music by chance techniques (the most common technique is using dice). John …show more content…
Cage follows Suzuki’s idea, that supreme knowledge will be attained – not by denying the senses – but cultivating unattached sense activity. By removing all pre-planned musical ideas (notes, rhythms, etc.), and allowing silence to be the “music” it cultivates unattached sense activity in the audience and musician: “When the mind is used to perceive and not to discriminate or analyze, it is referred to in Zen as no-mind, because it is refraining from the processes commonly associated with the function of the mind”. Another one of Cage’s pieces that implements a chance technique is Music for Piano: 21. This piece has indeterminate rhythms and tempo. Cage divides up the bars in his work to represent temporal regions. It is unknown how Cage determined the specific pitches or sonorities, but one can presume that Cage chose the pitches using a chance operation (such as rolling dice). In Music for Piano: 21, the performer decides how fast to play based on where the notes are on the page, this results in an indeterminate piece in which the performer creates most of the music rather than the composer (refer to figure …show more content…
His music was influenced primarily by D.T Suzuki’s philosophies on Zen. This manifested in Cage’s ability to “let go” of his art. Essentially creating indeterminate, chance, and silent music, Cage relinquished the control of the art of composition to the performing artist, or in some cases, the ambient noises of the performance space. His works are often miss-understood, yet if one can understand the importance of appreciating music and sound in its suchness without the interference of logic or reasoning, one can come to better appreciate the monumental accomplishments of John