Reading Blog #2

“On a simpler level, Cage had an itch to try new things.”

I think that quote exemplifies all that I have to say about this article and John Cage’s music. He sought to redefine what is music, playing around with different mediums and different audience reactions. I would not personally call  “4'33"” music, but I do see a reason for its existence: it brought forth that question of what defines music. However, while it is not music, I think his desire to turn silence into music does explain the appeal of meditation. To let both thoughts and sounds pass, focusing on them as a whole composition rather than individual troubling thoughts. 

The article goes on to say: “...Cage proceeded to ignore harmony for the next fifty years.” In pieces like “4'33"”, I would disagree. He is harmonious, not in a rhythmic or musical sense, but in a mindful and philosophical sense. The importance of his work was to draw the listener both inwards, into their own reactions to the sounds and ‘silence’, but also outwards, to the ‘silence’ itself.