Home Vinyl Asylum

Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

RE: Could be

Your understanding of art seems somewhat petty.

That seems a little harsh. I'd argue that it's less petty than the facetious remarks that 4'33" seems to attract from folk apparently unaware that Cage was not without a touch of humour. Besides, Rick's in pretty good company - talents as diverse as Schoenberg (who taught Cage), Boulez and Stockhausen were, probably rightly, dismissive of his compositional ability. He himself admitted to having a poor understanding of harmony. And so on.

In 2012, the London Sinfonietta "performed" 4'33" at a televised BBC Promenade Concert that we happened to watch; its effect was very much as radiodaddy's post suggests. It was clear that the "performers", the conductor and the audience alike enjoyed the piece - IOW, they not only listened to the "silence" but had fun. So did we. Cage had made an important musical/philosophical point in, well, under five minutes.

I'm not qualified to comment on his stature as a composer; I find such works as I've heard attractive but not earth-shattering. That said, I'm adamant that was he an important musical thinker and not, as Rick suggests, a showman and a bit of a charlatan.

But then I like Jackson Pollock too. Anyway, thanks to all for an interesting thread, esp the link to Kazimir Malevitch whose work I had not seen before.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Amplified Parts  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.