Piece 4 33 by john cage biography
Home / General Biography Information / Piece 4 33 by john cage biography
And yet—everything begins to speak: the shuffling of programs, the breath of strangers, the ticking of clocks, the creak of wooden seats. Cage challenges conventional notions by asserting that if we listen closely, we discover a richness in these sounds that is often overlooked. By inviting performers to remain silent for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, Cage challenges traditional notions of composition and performance, forcing audiences to engage with ambient sounds and the acoustic environment around them.
Composed in 1952, this groundbreaking work consists of three movements, with a total duration of four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The audience grew increasingly uncertain and uncomfortable the longer I did nothing, becoming hyper-aware of the minutiae of sound and movement in the space. Wikimedia Commons
John Cage’s 4’33” is one of the most iconic and provocative musical works of the 20th century.
He began using I Ching, a Chinese practice based on flipping coins onto various charts, to determine aspects of works like Music of Changes (1951). These are not disruptions. This perspective serves to democratize music, expanding it beyond the confines of formal compositions.
The reactions to Cage’s silence have varied over the decades, from admiration for its boldness to critique for supposedly lacking musicality.
In dismissing 4’33” as silent, and thus empty, audiences failed to tune in to these sounds.
Framing the piece as a meditation understates its undeniably provocative nature, however, and misses much of why it’s powerful. He turns it into an occasion for renewed perception. Contemporary interpretations of his work continue to generate discussions about the role of silence in music, influencing artists across various genres to explore the interstitial spaces between sounds.
This drew further from Eastern thinking to escape Western determinism and individualism, cultivating a more abstract “compositional silence” by diminishing the composer’s control over the music. But what is the point, and why do I think 4’33” can actually be incredibly powerful?
Cage’s aesthetic interests at the time help to answer this.
It consists of nothing but silence in three movements from performers, encouraging listeners to focus on the ambient noise in the performance room.
John Cage was born in Los Angeles on the 5th September 1912, to an inventor father and journalist mother.
He took piano lessons from an early age, but didn't show any aspirations of being a composer.
Rather than go to college, Cage decided that it would be more beneficial to travel to Europe in 1930, convinced that he was going to be a writer.
Cage also dabbled in the world of painting and held private lectures when he returned to the States in 1931.
It wasn't long before he started thinking seriously about music, however, and he was advised to study with the master of serialism, Arnold Schoenberg.
In 1940, Cage began composing for prepared piano.
The pianist sits, opens the lid, and the piece begins. As the initial shock dissipates, many audience members begin to engage in contemplation about their interpretations of silence and its implications for art, provoking them to reconsider their preconceived notions regarding music and performance.
Critics, musicians, and composers have provided diverse perspectives on Cage’s silent piece, with some lauding its audacity while others dismiss it as an esoteric exercise.
This is admittedly a bit of a fringe view, given that the score simplyinstructs any combination of musicians to produce no purposeful sounds for a duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds.For its 1952 premiere, the pianist David Tudor sat on stage, silently opening and closing the lid of a piano to demarcate the three subsections Cage indicates.
When an audience member’s phone rang towards the end of the performance, the piercing of that tension felt like an almost Mahlerian climax. My suggestion, then, is not to dismiss Cage’s ideas until you’ve had the opportunity to attend, or even lead, a performance of 4’33”.
What is 4’33”?
John Cage’s 4’33” is often regarded as one of the most provocative pieces in contemporary music, challenging the very essence of what constitutes a musical composition.
View moreJohn Cage – 4’33”
Theme: Silence, attention, contingency, anti-form
Musical Essence: A three-movement piece where the performer does not play their instrument for 4 minutes and 33 seconds; the “music” becomes the ambient sounds of the space and the audience; rooted in Zen Buddhism and Cage’s studies of indeterminacy and non-intentionality
Thinking Through Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)’s Philosophy on Art Essence
What is 4’33”?
It is not absence.