John cage s music actually seems to me to be the closest and most intimate music that could ever. The visualization of john cages lecture on nothing. It analyzes artist and scholar brandon labelles rendition of john cages lecture on nothing, which features an audio recording of the text read by a deaf person, and bass baritone nicholas isherwoods rendition of maurizio kagels phonophonie, which mobilizes seemingly farfetched personas by means of voice. What john cage offers is more refreshing, more spirited, much more funa. John cage s lecture on nothing 1949 is a rigorously structured 40minute piece on nothing as something in its own right, not just the absence of any and every something. Lecture on nothing 109 lecture on something f 128 45 for a speaker 146 where are we going. After looking it over, he said, too bad the j miliard lecture isnt in it.
Beginning around 1950, and throughout the passing years, he departed from the pragmatism of precise musical notation and circumscribed ways of performance. Modern music sevenths, always, all, fascinated me the seconds, with all its modern intervals. The text in john cage s lecture on nothing is composed of four measures per line and twelve lines per unit. Originally delivered by john cage at an artists club in new york in 1949, the composers lecture on nothing went on to become a core text within his 1961 collagemeditation of essays, silence.
So it was that i gave about 1949 my lecture on nothing at the artists club on eighth. So it was that i gave about 1949 my lecture on nothing at the artists club on. Drawing from the philosophical framework provided by. According to cage, silence may operate as a positive frame through which to appreciate nonmusical sounds and to heighten the experience of listening. In a visually and acoustically inspiring homage to revolutionary composer and philosopher john cage, american theater luminary robert wilson performs lecture on nothing, one of the central texts of 20thcentury experimental literature originally delivered in 1949 by the composer himself at an artists club in. In a visually and acoustically inspiring homage to revolutionary composer and philosopher john cage, american theater luminary robert wilson performs lecture on nothing, one of the central texts of 20thcentury experimental literature. John cages lecture on nothing the barbican, london 2502. Cage entered into such practice gradually, incrementally abandoning subjective taste and personal expression through the course of the work.
Oct 19, 20 the text in john cages lecture on nothing is composed of four measures per line and twelve lines per unit. The visualization of john cages lecture on nothing youtube. John cage is the outstanding composer of avantgarde music today. John cage 1912 1992 was an american composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and provocative artist. John cage silence lectures and writings, 50th anniversary. National academy of arts and letters, and wrote his lecture on nothing and lecture. Project muse silence and speech in lecture on nothing and. The sense of disorientation yielded by this experience is probably the best possible introduction to cages lecture on nothing, recited as part of the barbican theatres dancing for duchamp series. Included in silence, john cage s most relevant collection of writing, lecture on nothing is in many ways an essayistic response to the thinking behind his music. One of its muchquoted lines is i have nothing to say and i am saying and. Its one of cage s best voice pieces, and uitti does a fine job with it. John cage published by wesleyan university press john cage. Robert wilson finds the poetry in lecture on nothing. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.
The visualization of john cages lecture on nothing on vimeo. Zac gvi lecture on nothing, john cage, 1961 by openfile. John cage lecture on nothing 481 g 1955 g leonard michaels in the fifties 501. Cage s 1959 lecture on nothing remains a touchstone for artists thinking about how to empty their work of themselves. John cage was an american composer, zen buddhist, and mushroom eater. There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. As a homage to revolutionary composer john cage, robert wilson performs cage s lecture on nothing, one of the central texts of twentiethcentury experimental literature robert wilson is one of the most significant representatives of the theatrical avantgarde, whose landmark einstein on the beach was recreated at the barbican in 2012. The poem is written in a manner that allows it to be grasped, like music, in the moment of hearing and listening. The production has been described as being an acoustically and visually inspiring approach to the philosophical and poetic text which cage based on a complex time length. These are extracts from the 50th anniversary edition of silence.
Preface to lecture on the weather by john cage the first thing i thought of doing in relation to this work was to find an anthology of american aspirational thought and subject it to chance operations. The entire piece is divided into five parts, comprised of 7, 6, 14, 14, 7 units. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this john cage study guide. Thli following text was delivered as a talk at a meeting of a seattle am societv.
This collection of essays and presentations by noted composer and musical innovator john cage attempts to capture on paper both the intellectual and stylistic creativity with which he approached his work. Lecture on nothing 109 lecture on something 128 45. Silence is an opportunity to be aware of ones very present, ones own body and external world. John cages lecture on nothing is one of his early, legendarily forbidding speeches first held in 1950. Cage was part of the greenwich village scene in the 1950s. In 1949, john cage received an award of one thousand dollars from the. Oct 11, 2014 i have nothing to say and i am saying it and that is poetry as i need it john cage lecture on nothing, silence, 109. The line quoted above, i have nothing to say and i am saying it and that is poetry as i need it, summarily defines the fundamental tenetsand contradictionsof cage. Its a great modernisttopostmodernist look at the construction of a lecture, the stringing of language into something selfconsciously coherent. John cage was a very large part of this cultural landscape. When silence was published, i gave a copy to david tudor.
T hough its origins go back more than a decade earlier to a talk he gave in new york, john cage s lecture on nothing was included in his first and most important collection of writings, silence. Instead, reading lecture on nothing in its proper language or dialect is meant to approximate the experience of listening to a piece of music. John cage, zen buddhism and the inner life of artists, discusses and directs a performance of john cage s lecture on nothing. Or you may leave it forever and never return to it for we possess nothing but actually, unlike the snail we carry our homes within us, which enables us. As a homage to revolutionary composer john cage, robert wilson performs cages lecture on nothing, one of the central texts of twentiethcentury experimental literature.
Cage explained that one had to look into all of the somethings in order to find the nothing. Stream zac gvi lecture on nothing, john cage, 1961 by openfile from desktop or your mobile device. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and nonstandard use of musical instruments, cage. Zac gvi performs lecture on nothing by john cage, 1961 at open file. Robert wilson is one of the most significant representatives of the theatrical avantgarde, whose landmark einstein on the beach was recreated at the barbican in 2012.
Cage was also an author, and his book saenee was described by john rock well in the new york times as the most influential conduit of oriental thought and religious ideas into the artistic vanguardnot just in music but in dance, art and poetry as well. As cage explains in the essay, the topicsomethingis ostensibly morton feldman, but as he admits, by the end it is about something else, namely cages most recent ideas on. One hundred years after his birth, john cages ideas about the possibilities of music still inspire. Lecture on nothing, which is published in john cage s silence, is a classic, studied and often recited.
Brandon labelle lecture on nothing 2011, cd discogs. A performative interpretation of john cages lecture on nothing, written in 1949 and published as part of his book silence from 1961. Feb 26, 20 t hough its origins go back more than a decade earlier to a talk he gave in new york, john cage s lecture on nothing was included in his first and most important collection of writings, silence. Comprising of repetition, selfreferential musings on its own structure, comments on american geography, as well as scattered observations on music including connections between brahms and thirds, and the general popularity. Kay larson on john cage, 433 and the lecture on nothing. Silence is a collection of essays and lectures cage wrote during the period from 1939 to 1961. Mar 10, 20 included in silence, john cages most relevant collection of writing, lecture on nothing is in many ways an essayistic response to the thinking behind his music. Share john cage quotations about music, art and listening. Lecture on nothing is a recording of john cage s original text as read by a deaf individual. Lectures and writings, 50th anniversary edition cage, john, gann, kyle on. John cage started before that event at black mountain in 1952, but it is important to note that much of john cage s writing during the fifties not only lecture on nothing and ulecture on something, but also the juilliard lecture 1952 and, subsequently, where are we going. John cage s music actually seems to me to be the closest and most intimate music that could ever exist. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion and a free quiz on silence.
Todays essay is a followup to lecture on nothing, appropriately titled lecture on something, delivered to the artists club sometime in 1950. Our poetry now is the realization that we possess nothing john cage lecture on nothing i want to say something about the ethics of nonintention. Lectures and writings by john cage ii silence wesleyan university press middletown, connecticutiii also by john cage. Lectures and writings is a book by american experimental composer john cage 19121992, first published in 1961 by wesleyan university press. Camera obscura poetry instructor brendan constantine performs john cage s text. John cage s lecture on nothing is one of his early, legendarily forbidding speeches first held in 1950. Although lecture on something does adhere to a rhythmic structure and page layout similar to lecture on nothing, cage presents a very specific argument that is essentially grafted onto the nothing format. John cages ideas on sound, easily the most influential among the post war arts, were. John cage 19121992 was a singularly inventive and much beloved american composer, writer, philosopher, and visual artist, whose influence, already profound, has yet to be fully felt. The work is a neat summarisation of the composers philosophy of music, as well as an application of his musical structures to a piece of prose. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Lecture on nothing first appeared in cage s famous book silence. The catalyst for this exhibition was a chance conversation. They establish sight as the primary human sense and introduce the idea that looking is the medium.
A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and nonstandard use of musical instruments, cage was one of the leading figures of the postwar avantgarde. The score of the lecture can be understood as a reaction to one of the most momentous cuts in twentieth centurys media history. A year with john cage how to get out of the cage documentary, 2012 duration. Combining a vocal performance with a live soundtrack composed of digitally manipulated sounds, many of which are sourced from the area around the performance venue, performers michael hunter and derek phillips reconstruct and reinterpret cage s iconic 1949 lecture performance.
Cage possesses one of the rarest qualities of the true creator that of an original mind and whether that originality pleases, irritates, amuses or outrages is irrelevant. September 5, 1912 august 12, 1992 was an american composer, music theorist, artist, and philosopher. Francesmarie uitti, john cage, none, francesmarie uitti. Zac gvi lecture on nothing, john cage, 1961 by openfile published on 20120618t22. The line quoted above, i have nothing to say and i am saying it and that is poetry as i need it, summarily defines the fundamental tenetsand contradictionsof cages aesthetic principle of individuation and silence. John cage in buffalo is a tribute to the scores of artists and performers who live and have lived in western new york who were influenced by john cage. Pdf on dec 1, 1997, stephen davies and others published john cages 4. Premiered on august 22, 2012 at the ruhrtriennale festival, jahrhunderthalle, bochum, germany. John cage s concerto for prepared piano and chamber orchestra 195051 holds a unique position within the composer s oeuvre as the first work based in part on chancederived compositional procedures. According to cage, something earth while nothing heaven. He first gave his lecture on something at the artists club in 1950, followed by lecture on nothing.
Comprising of repetition, selfreferential musings on its own structure, comments on american geography, as well as scattered observations on music including connections between brahms and thirds, and the general popularity of. This performance was done at the diego rivera gallery in san francisco, as part of the show i have nothing to say and im saying it curated by aaron david kissman, on april 2015. John cages lecture on nothing as a landmark in media history. The official site for information about the life and works of john cage, administered by the john cage trust. Lecture on nothing is perhaps, next to the future of music. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and nonstandard use of musical instruments, cage was one of the leading figures of the postwar avantgarde. Cage, john, lecture of nothing in lecturers and writings, 1959, p. For cage, silence is sound, or more precisely, a zone of sounding with other sounds. He published silence in 1961, which included lectures and writings from the period 19391958. John cage s books published by wesleyan are, silence.
I thought the resultant complex would help to change our present intellectual climate. As a lecture, or as an accompaniment to a merce cunningham dance, he would read them aloud, speaking quickly or slowly as the stories required so that one story was read. Downtown poet brendan constantine performs john cages. Or you may leave it forever and never return to it for we possess nothing but actually, unlike the snail we carry our homes within us, which enables us to fly or to stay, to enjoy each. Project muse silence and speech in lecture on nothing.
1529 534 411 589 218 484 1486 1278 34 886 634 173 541 1243 1578 862 562 385 304 65 1384 201 537 5 34 315 978 740 676 442 1360 801 183