The Story Behind John Cage’s 4’33”

[JSngry]

By 1949, a cultural plague was being piped into offices, train stations, and bus terminals: canned, generic background music. The brainchild of an Army general, the idea was pure packaged capitalism. The Muzak Corporation sold hundreds of businesses and cities on the promise that a wash of faint background music would increase productivity, quell boredom, and prevent people from skipping work.

Cage hated it. It was just more proof that silence was going extinct...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-story-behind-john-cage-s-4-33?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 

[medjuck]

I like the jazz version.

[JSngry]

0'00''?

[7/4]

I'd like to read No Such Thing as Silence*....planning on doing something about it.

 

 

* Kyle Gann book.

[JSngry]

Is that a worthy read?

[T.D.]

17 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Is that a worthy read?

Haven't read it, but I expect so. When Gann was still active on the internet (used to blog, and his website when active was a big resource), I read several excerpts/drafts from the book in process, which he posted as written. I think Gann's one of the best commentators on contemporary music, though some might not agree with his advocacy of "totalism".

Edited July 18, 2019 by T.D.

[JSngry]

26 minutes ago, T.D. said:

... though some might not agree with his advocacy of "totalism".

https://www.kylegann.com/postminimalism.html

Not sure about that, I don't know enough to have an informed opinion. But the principle behind this thought strikes me as a cogent one, dealing as it does with music as evolution rather than photography:

 One could imagine that some future history of music will describe the period starting in the late 20th century as follows: "Our current musical language arose in the 1960s and '70s. In its nascent, simplistic state, it was at first mistaken for a full-blown style in itself, and was termed 'Minimalism'...."

[T.D.]

A few weeks ago, I saw in a Woodstock art gallery a copy of the original concert program:

Note that (as pointed out by Kyle Gann in link below) they botched 4'33" in the program!

Interesting transcript of a talk by Gann on 4'33" here. The link at the top of this thread cites Gann.

Edited July 19, 2019 by T.D.

[Rooster_Ties]

.

[T.D.]

Online event!

https://www.woodstockart.org/events/johncage-433-magnusson-benevento-larson/

Marco Benevento, Kay Larson, and Norm Magnusson

John Cage’s 4’33”

Virtual event

Sat. August 29, time TBA | FREE

Announcing the WAAM 10th Annual anniversary performance of John Cage’s 4’33”
When: Saturday, August 29, 2020, 6:00pm
Where: Streaming live from the Towbin Wing Gallery of the Woodstock Artists Association,
viewable online through zoom link

Featuring: the musical talents of Marco Benevento and the insights of Cage biographer Kay Larson.
Produced by: Norm Magnussen

The event will include a performance of 4’33, followed by a talk by Kay Larson. Marco Benevento will then pay [sic] some pieces of his own choosing.

Cage’s piece had its world debut on August 29, 1952, in Woodstock, during a concert program produced by The Woodstock Artists Association.

 

 

[Shrdlu]

It was written in Bb, but Miles played it in F.

[Rooster_Ties]

On 7/19/2019 at 3:02 PM, Rooster_Ties said:

.

 

[Larry Kart]

And Miles substituted his own, simpler bridge.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 7/15/2019 at 5:10 PM, JSngry said:

By 1949, a cultural plague was being piped into offices, train stations, and bus terminals: canned, generic background music. The brainchild of an Army general, the idea was pure packaged capitalism. The Muzak Corporation sold hundreds of businesses and cities on the promise that a wash of faint background music would increase productivity, quell boredom, and prevent people from skipping work.

Cage hated it. It was just more proof that silence was going extinct...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-story-behind-john-cage-s-4-33?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I LOVE the Muzak corporation, and I LOVE their stimulus progression theory.  It is very David Cronenberg.