The Cambridge Companion to John CageJohn Cage (1912-1992) was without doubt one of the most important and influential figures in twentieth-century music. Pupil of Schoenberg, Henry Cowell, Marcel Duchamp, and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, among others, he spent much of his career in pursuit of an unusual goal: 'giving up control so that sounds can be sounds', as he put it. This book celebrates the richness and diversity of Cage's achievements - the development of the prepared piano and of the percussion orchestra, the adoption of chance and of indeterminacy, the employment of electronic resources and of graphic notation, and the questioning of the most fundamental tenets of Western art music. Besides composing around 300 works, he was also a prolific performer, writer, poet, and visual artist. Written by a team of experts, this Companion discusses Cage's background, his work, and its performance and reception, providing in sum a fully rounded portrait of a fascinating figure. |
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Contents
Cage and America | 3 |
Cage and Europe | 20 |
Cage and Asia history and sources | 41 |
Sounds words images | 61 |
Music I to the late 1940s | 63 |
Words and writings | 85 |
Towards infinity Cage in the 1950s and 1960s | 100 |
Visual art | 109 |
Cages collaborations | 151 |
Cage and Tudor | 169 |
Cage and high modernism | 186 |
Music and society | 214 |
Cage and postmodernism | 227 |
No escape from heaven John Cage as father figure | 242 |
Endnotes | 261 |
| 268 | |
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Common terms and phrases
according activities aesthetic American appear artistic Asian asked aspects became become began beginning Boulez Cage's called cells chance chance operations Changes charts Ching close collection complete composers composition concert consists Construction contains continuity Cowell created dance David described determined discussed drawings duration earlier early example experience fact final four harmony idea important individual influence instance interest John Cage Kostelanetz late later lectures living marks materials means measures method motives move movement nature notation notes opening orchestra original percussion performance period phrase pieces pitch played prepared piano present prints procedures produced questions recording reference remained result rhythmic Schoenberg score sense shows silence single Solo Sonatas Song sounds sources String structure techniques texts things third tradition Tudor units Variations writings written wrote York
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Cambridge Companion to John Cage Cambridge Companions to Music |
| Editor | David Nicholls |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 2002 |
| ISBN | 0521789680, 9780521789684 |
| Length | 287 pages |
| Subjects | › Music / General Music / History & Criticism |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |