4:33 - True Minimal, or the most absurd thing ever?

[Babalazarou]

I really need this in WAV

Bottoms Up

[ethios4]

It really loses its magic in mp3. 24-bit FTW. Gotta have that dynamic range!

[slirak]

if you're the one not playing, then yes, music to my ears.

it had to be done, just like submitting a urinal to an artshow.

I think this is quite a precise reply to the op.

What's interesting is that the question posed by Cage in 4.33 doesn't seem to be half as controversial as the one posed by Duchamps, even though it's basically the same. I mean, in 2009, you can still make a career in art by challenging the concept of art itself, but when it comes to music, it's more like 'that's an interesting idea, cool'. Does that tell us that us music folks are way more advanced than them art people or what?

For those of you unfamiliar with Duchamps and that urinal: Fountain.

Cool guy. And probably the most influential artist of the last century.

[dentaku]

I find http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_As_Possible to be a more interesting project even though 4:33 gets more attention considering how controversial it has been.

if you're the one not playing, then yes, music to my ears.

it had to be done, just like submitting a urinal to an artshow.

I think this is quite a precise reply to the op.

What's interesting is that the question posed by Cage in 4.33 doesn't seem to be half as controversial as the one posed by Duchamps, even though it's basically the same. I mean, in 2009, you can still make a career in art by challenging the concept of art itself, but when it comes to music, it's more like 'that's an interesting idea, cool'. Does that tell us that us music folks are way more advanced than them art people or what?

For those of you unfamiliar with Duchamps and that urinal: Fountain.

Cool guy. And probably the most influential artist of the last century.

[thefinger]

it is entirely a composition. you just didn't think of it first.

Thanks to that, most music is still based on 12 fucking notes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

12 pitch classes, yes. but not 12 frequencies.

and most people haven't even mastered those.

[hurlingdervish]

if you didn't already listen to sounds of your environment as entertainment in itself...





stop making music.

[pulsoc]

An example of the impact this work has had

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtCxvv8Y3Bs

[arachnaut]

I don't have citations for this, but I once read an interesting thing that happened concerning 4' 33'':

PBS (or someone) presented the performance on television. At about a minute into the piece, a forgotten security device got activated that detected dead air and presented some sort of warning display. This gave new meaning to performance work and I think Cage would have been delighted to see it.

One can say similar things (absurdity, etc.) about the color field experiments in modern art - extremely large canvases with a single color. Behind the work is the idea that if one is completely immersed in a color they can feel a certain psychological state - for example staring at a huge blue screen should feel different from staring at a huge red screen.

For me, all this is interesting, and I listen to 4' 33" quite often - sometimes playing it over and over for hours at a time.

[ethios4]

Sepatown!

I've probably listened to 4'33" more than any other piece in my life! Actually, one of my favorite things is to mix it over other tracks...it works incredibly well! Don't tell but it's teh magic ingredient in all my best work!

[hurlingdervish]

For me, all this is interesting, and I listen to 4' 33" quite often - sometimes playing it over and over for hours at a time.

why cant you just listen to the environment without someone telling you to?

[noisetonepause]

stop making music.

[pepezabala]

An example of the impact this work has had

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtCxvv8Y3Bs

that's fantastic. I love the father at the end.

[LancelotHB]

It can be considered as music. It's only how people interpret what and how it would be. For me it's still music. A peaceful kind. If ever I'm tired for the day and wanted to escape the reality, I could just lock up in my room and listen to those kind of music and it can bring peace of mind.

[d-track]

pop music

[ethios4]

Cage's book Silence is one of my favorite writings ever, but a lot of his other writings get really annoying, specifically his worship of chance-created compositions. I appreciate the idea, but I find music made according to the grain of the paper on which it was composed to be rather poor in quality. Cage was often as much of a control freak about his ideas as Milton Babbitt, etc. Brilliant guy, but I happen to appreciate his philosophy more than his music for the most part.

I love 4'33" and his prepared piano works most especially.