Persons of Note: John Cage Research

After researching John Cage, I have learnt a fair bit about his legacy and importance. He was an American composer, amongst other things such as music theorist, philosopher and artist. He is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

He is most well known for his composition 4'33", in which the performer makes no noise for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, encouraging the audience to listen to the natural noises around them and interpret it as music. This piece was inspired by Cage's visit to the anechoic chamber at Harvard University, where he went to experience silence and realised that nothing is ever truly silent because he could hear his blood circulation and other unintentional body functions.

He was heavily influenced by East and South Asian culture, and this can be seen in his chance-based method of composition. He adopted the use of the I Ching (an ancient chinese divination text that produces random numbers) to produce some pieces. Another clear influence in John Cage's work was his teacher Schoenberg who employed a method of composing known as the 12 tone technique which relies heavily on chance to compose the piece. Cage himself used a method known as 25 tone row which works similarly.

One of the most key aspects of John Cage's legacy would be his strange approach to composition and performance. On occasions, he got performers to use plants, or shells filled with water to create music. He also created pieces using grids and a coordinate system, or text instructions. Sometimes he would draw interesting scores instead of physically write music.

John Cage was also one of the pioneers of the prepared piano - this is where you would add objects into the piano to alter the sound it creates.

All of this information and research has taught me a lot about the legacy of John Cage, and through this I've found some interesting imagery that could inform possible ideas or designs for this project.