Reading Blog #2

The conceptual work of John Cage’s “4'33", was introduced to the world with the purpose to make people listen. John Cage believed that there was no such thing as silence. Composer and scholar Kyle Gann describes Cage’s career as “An act of framing, of enclosing environmental and unintended sounds in a moment of attention in order to open the mind to the fact that all sounds are music”. Cage’s new approach to listening and understanding music played with the conventional boundaries between life and what is considered to be art. The boundaries of art are constantly being stretched in new directions, introducing new ways of expression and performance. As a child, Cage had a passion for believing that music should disturb rather than comfort the listener. Cage’s concepts and art play a huge role in the music industry today, and what is considered acceptable within the musical boundaries. I find it fascinating that through a “silent” performance, Cage was able to express and convey so much. His work encourages thought and ignites discussion through questions and analysis. Through this, he introduced a whole new category of music and what it means to be a composer, which still exists today anytime anyone compiles more than one sound, tune or track. In the article, it states that when the war came along, Cage decided to use only quiet songs, followed by him stating that, “there seemed to be no truth, no good, in anything big in society. But quiet sounds were like loneliness, or love, or friendship”. Cage’s work was very intentional, in that, his passion for silence stemmed from him being a lonely and precocious child. Cage's career is very significant to me because he found the beauty where there was none, and even though his art was not always favored or understood, he stayed determined and passionate through his concepts and purpose.