Re: 4'33" by John Cage

[Tyler <programmer651@comcast.net>]

This reminds me of a skit done by web comedy site Uncyclopedia, where some 
ensemble (a very popular 
one, according to the comedy skit) is about to perform 4:33. The piece 
begins (you hear little sniffles and such now 
and then), and then one of the geeky teenagers in the audience says 
something along the lines of, "What a 
waste of time! I could have stayed at home editing Wikipedia!" or 
something like that. But it turned the whole 
4:33 thing into a comedy, where some of the audience members show their 
discontent using profane terms some of the 
times (expected, having already been a long-time fan of Uncyclopedia when 
I heard this).
Tyler Z
On Fri, 28 Mar 2014 03:42:54 -0700, Rick Walker wrote:


>On 3/27/2014 6:44 PM, Loopers-Delight-d-request@loopers-delight.com wrote:
>>0'00" by John Cage. 
>
>Just for historical accuracy, I believe you are referring to the 
>compostion, 4'33" bt Cage.
>
>
>Many people, parenthetically,  don't understand what he was attempting 
>in that piece.
>
>Because it is in three movements,  when it was debuted,  the audience 
>kept anticipating that something
>would happen.
>
>when nothing happened, Cage's point was that all of the sounds made by 
>people shifting uncomfortably
>in their seat; their coughs, exits and entrances became the only audible 
>sound (which was random- something
>Cage was absolutely fascinated by) and 'were' the music of the piece.
>
>The piece had nothing to do with the pianist sitting, silently, in front 
>of the $150,000 grand piano.
>
>It was the 'noise' created by the audience...................and in most 
>cases, originally,  it was the noise
>of a disturbed and expectant audience.
>
>In modern performances it always is a little disappointing that the 
>audience, now, usually laughs
>with their discomfort.
>
>I saw it performed in Santa Cruz once with a pianist in tails performing 
>on a grand toy piano
>which caused a lot of laughter from the audience.
>
>I thought the conductor didn't truly 'get' the piece when I saw that and 
>seemed to be going for the
>lowest common denominator.
>
>If you haven't read it,   Cage wrote a brilliant book about music called 
>"SILENCE".
>I cant' recommend it more highly for anyone intrigued by the philosophy 
>of music expression.
>
>R.