4’33” stays essentially the most well-known work of the American composer and theorist, John Cage (1912-1992).
The experimental piece, composed in 1952 for any mixture of devices, requires performers to sit down onstage and never play their devices. The ambient sounds of the room take over and type the freest type of probability music. Our ears turn out to be attuned to an ever-present sonic counterpoint. Whole silence is a fallacy.
Certainly one of Cage’s best influences was the French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925). Satie’s “Furnishings music” (repetitive background music) and atmospheric Gymnopédies anticipated the Minimalist and Ambient music of the late twentieth century. In a 1948 lecture at Black Mountain School titled Protection of Satie, Cage stated, “It’s not a query of Satie’s relevance. He’s indispensable.”
The identical 12 months, Cage composed In a Panorama. An homage to Satie’s Gymnopédies, the solo piano work floats by way of a dreamy panorama. It was written for choreographer and dancer Louise Lippold. The participant is instructed to carry each the damper and maintain pedals all through the whole composition.
In a Panorama appears far faraway from the Cage of 4’33.” Written at a time when thorny atonality was dominant, it’s a serene work of early Minimalism which reaches again to Satie.
This efficiency options pianist Stephen Drury:
Recordings
- Cage: In a Panorama, Stephen Drury Amazon
Featured Picture: “John Cage In a Panorama 1948 – Model 2.” Graphite charcoal and combined media, Fiona Robinson
