What is the musical style of John Cage?
Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of aleatoric or chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage’s standard composition tool for the rest of his life.
Is music an Organised sound?
An often-cited definition of music is that it is “organized sound”, a term originally coined by modernist composer Edgard Varèse in reference to his own musical aesthetic.
Is John Cage making music or just noise?
Cage does not depart from music; his starting point is noise. He wants to create a music that belongs to the noises of the environment, a music that will take them into consideration.
Who invented the term organized sound?
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Varèse was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse’s music emphasizes timbre and rhythm and he coined the term “organized sound” in reference to his own musical aesthetic.
How did John Cage compose music?
Cage’s early compositions were written in the 12-tone method of his teacher Schoenberg, but by 1939 he had begun to experiment with increasingly unorthodox instruments such as the “prepared piano” (a piano modified by objects placed between its strings in order to produce percussive and otherworldly sound effects).
What term tells us how music is organized?
Learning Notation: Rhythm Rhythm concerns the organization of musical elements into sounds and silences. Rhythm occurs in a melody, in the accompaniment, and uses combinations of short and long durations to create patterns and entire compositions.
Who created organized sound?
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883–November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse’s music emphasizes timbre and rhythm and he coined the term “organized sound” in reference to his own musical aesthetic.
What is the meaning of 4’33 by John Cage?
4′33″ (pronounced “four minutes, thirty-three seconds” or just “four thirty-three”) is a three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage. The title of the piece refers to the total length in minutes and seconds of a given performance, 4′33″ being the total length of the first public performance.
How the musicians did play their instruments John Cage?
Cage wanted to use percussive sounds to accompany the group in the dance studio, but the room was so small that only one instrument (a piano) could be used. He turned the piano into a percussion instrument by opening the piano and inserting objects between the strings.
Why is music an organized sound?
Music is organized on many different levels. Sounds can be arranged into melodies, harmonies, rhythms, textures and phrases. But the most basic way that music is organized is by arranging the actual sound waves themselves so that the sounds are interesting and pleasant and go well together.
What does the term organized sound mean?
The implication of a definition of music as “organized sound” implies that if we have some sound that is organized, then it is music, and if we have some sound that is not organized, then it is not music. “Organized” is a word that has a certain fluidity of meaning.
What is the organization of sound?
Sound, by definition, occurs outside the boundaries of perception, while music, noise, silence, and speech (spoken language, utterances) reside strictly within the brain. Sounds that we hear exist in the form of molecular wave motions that travel through air.
What did John Cage think about music and silence?
John Cage: Music, Sound, and Silence. The theories of avant-garde American composer John Cage (1912-1992) on music, sound, and silence are of more interest than his musical compositions. To Cage, there is no such thing as silence. Music is a succession of sounds and the composer the “organizer of sounds.”.
Where did John Cage go to music school?
Cage studied with Schoenberg in California: first at USC and then at UCLA, as well as privately. The older composer became one of the biggest influences on Cage, who “literally worshipped him”, particularly as an example of how to live one’s life being a composer.
What was the purpose of John Cage’s composition 4’33’?
Cage’s famous composition 4’33”, consisting of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence, was intended to point to the ambient sounds around the listener of the work, which then become the work of music.
Why was John Cage called a Dadaist composer?
His compositions, Cage admits, are called Dadaist, but he argues in the essay “Indeterminacy” that in Dadaism actions occur but space or emptiness is not taken into account, as in his music. For Cage, silence is that space, although absolute silence does not exist.