John Cage Reading

I have a sibling who's getting their masters degree in musicology, so I have heard of the composition 4’33 before, but not much else about John Cage. It’s interesting to hear about the extremely wide variety of compositions that John Cage created. John Cage approached his art with a constant desire to try new things. His art was always very experimental—he said that “Art is a sort of experimental station in which one tries out living.”

John Cage was never popular or well liked in the field of classical music, but he was able to achieve a huge degree of success in art. He was considered a co-inventor of performance art. Cage went over a lot better in non-traditional spaces. He was also not hugely appreciative of classical music, only admitted to loving Mozart and Grieg. He believed that music should “exercise a critical function,” and go beyond simply comforting the listener and sounding nice.

He always took the path of most resistance to do what he wanted to do. His music did not make him rich. The article mentioned that when he finally achieved some degree of financial stability, it was not because of his music. It was because he had started collecting mushrooms during walks in the woods. He co-founded the New York Mycological Society. Undoubtedly, he led a very interesting life.

He was able to appreciate the music in all of everyday life. He lived in New York City, and appreciated the sounds from Sixth Avenue, because, like his music, they were always novel and never repeated themselves.