John cage biography compositional techniques
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One of the most influential 20th century composers, John Cage pioneered a body of music that he described as “the contemporary transition from keyboard-influenced music to the all-sound music of the future.” From 1930 to 1950 Cage composed over 16 percussion scores and invented compositional procedures and theories conceived for percussion music. During the 1950s he developed new composing methods including chance elements and other efforts to divorce the composer from the compositional process. A percussionist himself, he performed as well as composed, exploring new sound resources (he invented the prepared piano). Known as much for his writings and lectures as his music, he was in constant demand as a speaker.
— by Frederick Fairchild
John Cage
by David Revill
Beginning in the mid-1930s, John Cage was a pioneer whose pieces for percussion ensemble liberated the genre from its two most cliched roles – its supportive role in the orchestra
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John Cage
John Cage has been lauded as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4”²33”³, which fryst vatten performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians who present the work do ingenting aside from being present for the duration specified by the title. The content of the composition is not "four minutes and 33 seconds of silence," as is sometimes assumed, but rather the sounds of the environment heard bygd the audience during performance. The work's utmaning to assumed definitions about musicianship and musical experience made it a popular and controversial topic both in musicology and the broader aesthetics of art and performance. Cage was also a pioneer of the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered bygd objects placed between or on its strings or hammers), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces.
His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933
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John Cage
American avant-garde composer (1912–1992)
This article is about the composer. For other people with the same name, see John Cage (disambiguation).
John Cage | |
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Cage in 1988 | |
| Born | John Milton Cage Jr. (1912-09-05)September 5, 1912 Los Angeles, California |
| Died | August 12, 1992(1992-08-12) (aged 79) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Pomona College |
| Occupations | |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Merce Cunningham |
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.[1][2][3][4] He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham,