What do Pete Doherty, the Kooks, Billy Bragg, Imogen Heap, and Orbital have in common? Well…they’re all in the music industry. However, this year, their defining unifying factor is the collaboration of support for Cage Against the Machine. Cage Against the Machine is the campaign to put the silent piece 4’33” by John Cage (our favorite) at the top of the Christmas charts against the latest single from the talent show franchise, X Factor. It is an interesting choice in regards to music history, for the famous piece by Cage is one of the few avant-garde works to cross into the mainstream air. Additionally, all proceeds will be donated to charities, such as the British Tinnitus Association, when the single is available to purchase.
4’33” first debuted at the Maverick Concert Hall at Bard College in August 1952 by pianist David Tudor. It later was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in London in 2004, receiving a spectrum of reviews. Below is footage from the premiere.
Composer, blogger and former Village Voice music reviewer Kyle Gann was so moved by this piece, he wrote No Such Thing as Silence: John Cage’s 4’33” for its justification of being considered as art. Gann’s argument accepts Cage’s sentiments that by reducing the performer to silence, the hierarchy between music and noise was destroyed, and that the ambient sounds of the world were freed. There is a heightened sense soundscape of quietness that one usually ignores: shuffling of shoes, breathing among the audience, or the sonic landscape of the city.
Maybe one day I can use 4’33” to audition for American Idol!
John Cage’s other work As Slow as Possible is mentioned here .
Despite the fact that the pianist isn’t really playing anything, the piece wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be. From watching the video, we hear the high-pitched whirring sound and occasional sniffing and creaks. But the live audience must have heard some things differently. Like many other pieces, this piece must be heard differently each time it is performed. I was wondering how the pianist knew how long to play the piece for. Was there a little clock hidden somewhere?