{"id":1763,"date":"2017-03-31T16:21:37","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T16:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-music-rford\/?post_type=chapter&p=1763"},"modified":"2020-04-11T21:52:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T21:52:20","slug":"john-cage","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-music-rford\/chapter\/john-cage\/","title":{"raw":"John Cage","rendered":"John Cage"},"content":{"raw":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=753&action=edit<\/span>\r\n\r\nIntroduction<\/strong>\r\nIn this topic, \u00a0 we will look into three significant musical trends of the second half of the 20th century. \u00a0 (1)<\/strong> \u00a0Aleatoric music<\/strong> incorporates \u00a0random chance or performer choice into the composition. \u00a0Thus no performance of an aleatoric piece will be the same due to these indeterminate elements. \u00a0There were some interesting experiments in \u00a0(2)\u00a0 E<\/strong>lectronic music<\/strong> in the \u00a0art music arena with early electronic recording and sound generation technologies. (3)<\/strong>\u00a0Minimalism<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0is a return to a simpler, tonal style and an emphasis on repeated patterns. It is the most recent to gain prominence..\r\nhttps:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=758&action=edit<\/span>\r\n\r\nJohn \u00a0Cage <\/b>(1912\u20131992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and artist. He \u00a0one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. \u00a0Cage was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was \u00a0Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.\r\n\r\nJohn Cage was a philosopher as well as a composer - challenging readers and listeners with questions about the nature of sound versus \u00a0music and whether there is in fact any difference.<\/span>\u00a0 Two concepts are associated\u00a0 with Cage: (1) prepared piano and (2) aleatoric music.\u00a0This topic \u00a0provides a concise overview of Cage's impact on the world of music.<\/span>\r\n\r\n4'33\".<\/strong>\u00a0 A 1952 composition\u00a0\u00a0performed in silence\u00a0 without\u00a0 sound.<\/span>\u00a0The intention of the\u00a0 composer in this work\u00a0 is\u00a0 to\u00a0\u00a0be aware of sounds of the environment\u00a0 - such as\u00a0 circulation fans,\u00a0 the audience\u00a0 rustling and coughing plus,\u00a0 sounds outside ther concert hall.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 The work's challenge to assumed definitions about musicianship and musical experience made it a popular and controversial topic both in musicology and the broader aesthetics of art and performance.\r\n\r\nCage's teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933\u201335), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage was also\u00a0 influenced by\u00a0 in various East and South Asian cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of aleatoric<\/strong> or chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0I Ching<\/i>, an ancient Chinese classic text\u00a0\u00a0providing inspiration to the worlds of religion, philosophy[1]<\/a><\/sup>, literature, and art , was a major influence\u00a0 in\u00a0 Cage's standard composition\u00a0 for the rest of his life.\u00a0 In a 1957 lecture,\u00a0Experimental Music<\/i>, he described music as \"a purposeless play\" which is \"an affirmation of life\u2014not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living.\"\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=759&action=edit<\/span>\r\n\r\nPrepared piano:\u00a0<\/b>Cage was \u00a0a pioneer of the prepared piano.The concept\u00a0 of prepared piano is fairly simple. A piano's sound was altered by placing objects such as nails and screws called preparations<\/em>\u00a0 between or on its strings or hammers). One could obtain a nearly infinite range of sounds with this preparation.\u00a0 Cage wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the\u00a0 best known being\u00a0Sonatas and Interludes<\/i> (1946\u201348).\u00a0 \u00a0 His first\u00a0 prepared\u00a0 piano work\u00a0 was a\u00a0 commission for\u00a0 \"Bacchanale,\" a dance by\u00a0Syvilla Fort in 1938. It was meant to be for a percussion ensemble.\u00a0 However the hall where Fort\u2019s dance was to be staged had no room for a percussion group. Cage\u00a0 produced\u00a0 a range of unconventional \u00a0sounds on the prepared\u00a0 \u00a0piano\u00a0 which were\u00a0 equivalent of an entire percussion orchestra with just one musician.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=760&action=edit<\/span>\r\n\r\nAleatoric music:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Aleatoric music (from the Latin word alea<\/i>, meaning \"dice\") is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and\/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer(s). The term is most often associated with procedures in which the chance element involves a relatively limited number of possibilities.\u00a0John Cage became a strong proponent of aleatoric techniques.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=761&action=edit<\/span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_866\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"318\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 1. A piano prepared for a performance of Sonatas and Interludes[\/caption]\r\n\r\nSonatas and Interludes<\/b><\/i> is a collection of twenty pieces for prepared piano composed in 1946\u20131948, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy. \u00a0Sonatas and Interludes<\/i> is generally recognized as one of Cage's finest achievements.\r\n\r\nThe cycle consists of sixteen sonatas The aim of the pieces is to express the eight permanent emotions of the rasa Indian tradition. In this work, Cage elevated his technique of rhythmic proportions to a new level of complexity.\u00a0In each sonata a short sequence of natural numbers and fractions defines the structure of the work and that of its parts, informing structures as localized as individual melodic lines.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/jRHoKZRYBlY\r\n\r\nListen to \u00a0Sonata V by \u00a0performed by Inara Ferreira. (Recorded at the FAU Theater - Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton - FL). Screws and pegs inserted \u00a0among the strings cause \u00a0the altered sounds. (see this in the video) \u00a0The work has \u00a0repetitive motives and figures.\r\n\r\nThe prepared (altered) \u00a0sounds are \u00a0played on conventional piano keys but yielding sounds which are not conventional.\r\n
\r\n

Listen: Sonatas<\/h3>\r\n

Sonata II<\/h4>\r\nPlease listen to a short excerpt from Sonata II, which is clearly inspired by Eastern music:\r\n\r\n[audio ogg=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/textimgs\/SantaAnaMusic\/Cage-sonata02-tilbury.ogg\"][\/audio]\r\n

Sonata XVI<\/h4>\r\nPlease listen to a short excerpt from Sonata XVI, the last of the cycle, which is \"clearly European\". It was the signature of a composer from the West.\r\n\r\n[audio ogg=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/textimgs\/SantaAnaMusic\/Cage-sonata16-hinterhauser.ogg\"][\/audio]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_867\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"350\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 2. John Cage with the pianist Maro Ajemian, to whom he dedicated Sonatas and Interludes<\/em>[\/caption]\r\n\r\n.\r\n\r\nCage dedicated Sonatas and Interludes<\/i> to Maro Ajemian, who\u00a0performed \u00a0one of the first performances of the complete cycle on January 12, 1949, in Carnegie Hall. On many other occasions in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Cage performed it himself. Critical reaction was uneven,\u00a0but mostly positive. \u00a0Cage met Olivier Messiaen in 1949, who helped organize a performance of the Sonatas for his students in Paris. In \u00a01949 Cage befriended Pierre Boulez, who became an early admirer of this work and wrote a lecture about Sonatas and Interludes for\u00a0a performance in 1949 \u00a0Paris.\r\n\r\nIn 1946, Cage met Gita Sarabhai, an Indian musician who came to the United States concerned about Western influence on the music of her country. Through her Cage became acquainted with Indian music and philosophy. The purpose of music, according to Sarabhai's teacher in India, was \"to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences<\/span>,\"\u00a0and this definition became one of the cornerstones of Cage's view on music and art in general. \u00a0All of these experiences influenced Cage's life and music.\r\n\r\nView this video \u00a0of John Cage's lecture on his outlook and views. It is quire revealing and human.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/pcHnL7aS64Y\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=753&action=edit<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong>
\nIn this topic, \u00a0 we will look into three significant musical trends of the second half of the 20th century. \u00a0 (1)<\/strong> \u00a0Aleatoric music<\/strong> incorporates \u00a0random chance or performer choice into the composition. \u00a0Thus no performance of an aleatoric piece will be the same due to these indeterminate elements. \u00a0There were some interesting experiments in \u00a0(2)\u00a0 E<\/strong>lectronic music<\/strong> in the \u00a0art music arena with early electronic recording and sound generation technologies. (3)<\/strong>\u00a0Minimalism<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0is a return to a simpler, tonal style and an emphasis on repeated patterns. It is the most recent to gain prominence..
\nhttps:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=758&action=edit<\/span><\/p>\n

John \u00a0Cage <\/b>(1912\u20131992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and artist. He \u00a0one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. \u00a0Cage was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was \u00a0Cage’s romantic partner for most of their lives.<\/p>\n

John Cage was a philosopher as well as a composer – challenging readers and listeners with questions about the nature of sound versus \u00a0music and whether there is in fact any difference.<\/span>\u00a0 Two concepts are associated\u00a0 with Cage: (1) prepared piano and (2) aleatoric music.\u00a0This topic \u00a0provides a concise overview of Cage’s impact on the world of music.<\/span><\/p>\n

4’33”.<\/strong>\u00a0 A 1952 composition\u00a0\u00a0performed in silence\u00a0 without\u00a0 sound.<\/span>\u00a0The intention of the\u00a0 composer in this work\u00a0 is\u00a0 to\u00a0\u00a0be aware of sounds of the environment\u00a0 – such as\u00a0 circulation fans,\u00a0 the audience\u00a0 rustling and coughing plus,\u00a0 sounds outside ther concert hall.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 The work’s challenge to assumed definitions about musicianship and musical experience made it a popular and controversial topic both in musicology and the broader aesthetics of art and performance.<\/p>\n

Cage’s teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933\u201335), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage was also\u00a0 influenced by\u00a0 in various East and South Asian cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of aleatoric<\/strong> or chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0I Ching<\/i>, an ancient Chinese classic text\u00a0\u00a0providing inspiration to the worlds of religion, philosophy[1]<\/a><\/sup>, literature, and art , was a major influence\u00a0 in\u00a0 Cage’s standard composition\u00a0 for the rest of his life.\u00a0 In a 1957 lecture,\u00a0Experimental Music<\/i>, he described music as “a purposeless play” which is “an affirmation of life\u2014not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living.”<\/p>\n

https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=759&action=edit<\/span><\/p>\n

Prepared piano:\u00a0<\/b>Cage was \u00a0a pioneer of the prepared piano.The concept\u00a0 of prepared piano is fairly simple. A piano’s sound was altered by placing objects such as nails and screws called preparations<\/em>\u00a0 between or on its strings or hammers). One could obtain a nearly infinite range of sounds with this preparation.\u00a0 Cage wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the\u00a0 best known being\u00a0Sonatas and Interludes<\/i> (1946\u201348).\u00a0 \u00a0 His first\u00a0 prepared\u00a0 piano work\u00a0 was a\u00a0 commission for\u00a0 “Bacchanale,” a dance by\u00a0Syvilla Fort in 1938. It was meant to be for a percussion ensemble.\u00a0 However the hall where Fort\u2019s dance was to be staged had no room for a percussion group. Cage\u00a0 produced\u00a0 a range of unconventional \u00a0sounds on the prepared\u00a0 \u00a0piano\u00a0 which were\u00a0 equivalent of an entire percussion orchestra with just one musician.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=760&action=edit<\/span><\/p>\n

Aleatoric music:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Aleatoric music (from the Latin word alea<\/i>, meaning “dice”) is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and\/or some primary element of a composed work’s realization is left to the determination of its performer(s). The term is most often associated with procedures in which the chance element involves a relatively limited number of possibilities.\u00a0John Cage became a strong proponent of aleatoric techniques.<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/vccs-tcc-mus121-1\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=761&action=edit<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 1. A piano prepared for a performance of Sonatas and Interludes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sonatas and Interludes<\/b><\/i> is a collection of twenty pieces for prepared piano composed in 1946\u20131948, shortly after Cage’s introduction to Indian philosophy. \u00a0Sonatas and Interludes<\/i> is generally recognized as one of Cage’s finest achievements.<\/p>\n

The cycle consists of sixteen sonatas The aim of the pieces is to express the eight permanent emotions of the rasa Indian tradition. In this work, Cage elevated his technique of rhythmic proportions to a new level of complexity.\u00a0In each sonata a short sequence of natural numbers and fractions defines the structure of the work and that of its parts, informing structures as localized as individual melodic lines.<\/p>\n