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John Cage
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contemporary classical, avant-garde, minimalism, experimental, classical… see all
John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American experimental music composer, writer and visual artist. He is most commonly known for his 1952 composition 4’33”, whose three movements are performed without playing a single note.
Cage was an early composer of what he called “chance music” (and what others have labeled aleatoric music) — music where some elements in the music are left to be decided by chance; he is also well known for his non-standard use of musical instruments and his pioneering exploration of electronic music. His works were sometimes controversial, but he is generally regarded as one of the most important composers of his era, especially in his raising questions about the definition of music.
John Cage put Zen Buddhist beliefs into practice through music. He described his music as “purposeless play,” but insisted: “this play is an affirmation of life—not an attempt to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we are living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and desires out the way and lets it act of its own accord.”
Cage was also an avid amateur mycologist and mushroom collector: he co-founded the New York Mycological Society with three friends. He was a long-term collaborator and romantic partner of choreographer Merce Cunningham.
Cage is also known as the inventor of the mesostic, a type of poem.
Cage was an early composer of what he called “chance music” (and what others have labeled aleatoric music) — music where some elements in the music are left to be decided by chance; he is also well known for his non-standard use of musical instruments and his pioneering exploration of electronic music. His works were sometimes controversial, but he is generally regarded as one of the most important composers of his era, especially in his raising questions about the definition of music.
John Cage put Zen Buddhist beliefs into practice through music. He described his music as “purposeless play,” but insisted: “this play is an affirmation of life—not an attempt to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we are living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and desires out the way and lets it act of its own accord.”
Cage was also an avid amateur mycologist and mushroom collector: he co-founded the New York Mycological Society with three friends. He was a long-term collaborator and romantic partner of choreographer Merce Cunningham.
Cage is also known as the inventor of the mesostic, a type of poem.
Similar Artists
Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Terry Riley, György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Olivier Messiaen… see all
See moreVideos
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John Cage Sonata V
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Play
John Cage "In a Landscape"
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John Cage: "Music for Marcel Duchamp" (1947)
Top Tracks
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Sonata II
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Sonata V
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Sonata I
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First Interlude
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Sonata III
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Music for Marcel Duchamp
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Sonata VI
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Sonata IV
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Prelude for Meditation
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Fourth Interlude
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Second Interlude
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Daughter of the Lonesome Isle: 1945
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Top Albums
Shoutbox
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Auto_Orchestra wrote:
I hate when people say that's their favorite piece. It's cool in concept, but it's just a stupid answer.
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D-Waq wrote:
4'33" is brilliant. i personally think its a stroke of genius to make the audience think outside the square. too bad it doesnt really work in mp3 format
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pjfrankophone wrote:
http://www.last.fm/group/Sound
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LoveNature wrote:
too bad I can't listen to the performance of Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) in Germany in its entirety during my lifetime.
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Gamester wrote:
Care to join the "new" John Cage group? Check it out! :o)
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looooooooooooop wrote:
i love this John Cage video: http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=SSulycqZH-U
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SonicExplosion wrote:
it transcends these mere charts...
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rigoisphat wrote:
it's great how his most famous concept is nowhere to be seen in the top tracks
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ShaneSpear wrote:
4'33" for the ...........
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igOrOGOGO wrote:
A Sonata a day keeps the slug eyeball away..http://igorogogo.com
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nancykitten wrote:
There can never be enough 4'33" jokes :-(
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Sami_of_Kolberg wrote:
4'33" rocks :D It's only song I can play on piano :D
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higginst wrote:
aw man, nothing being an actual band completely ruined that for me.
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higginst wrote:
Fans of John Cage might like to listen to Nothing. hehe.
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higginst wrote:
4'33" is my favourite song ever!! haha jokes. its cool though. I had to write about it for my postmodernism assignment last year. How the "music" becomes people in the audience going "wtf?" lololol.
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rigoisphat wrote:
FLAWLESS VICTORY!
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[deleted-user]
wrote:
no.
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Bloopy wrote:
Fans of John Cage might like to hear the new track from Dead Kid Harvester:
Wormy Justice.
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utopiantheorist wrote:
639 years. Leave it to the Germans to do one of the strangest things from one of the most unusual composers.
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samshipstone wrote:
A 192kbps recording of his Organ²/ASLSP piece in its entirety would be 168 petabytes (or 168 million gigabytes) in size, the capacity of 210,000 sixth generation iPods.
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Events
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Apr
1
World Minimal Music Festival
Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
8 shouts
| 17 attendees
Recent Activity
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- DefaultXR tagged John Cage with ‘genius’ and ‘experimental’. Wednesday morning
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- fvallee tagged John Cage with ‘contemporary classic’. Monday afternoon
- cbscorneti, JosefHinojosa and Charliff added John Cage to their libraries. Monday morning
- ludendi and sasa68 tagged John Cage with ‘contemporary classical’. Sunday evening
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