MUS- M 402 1st EditionLecture 33Outline of Last LectureI. JazzII. The BluesOutline of Current LectureI. John CageII. Cage’s Music of Changes (1951)Current Lecture I. John Cage (1912- 1992)a. John Cage was a true experimental composer, however, he was even more of aninventor.b. Student of Arnold Schoenbergc. Cage was especially interested in rhythm and duration, and not as interested inpitches or harmonyd. His music is not only about the sounds, but about the silence in between thesounds too. i. Pure Organic Sound- Created in Cage’s music by creating indeterminacyand chance in the music.1. Cage did not want his music to reflect any kind of emotion andpreferred the sound of silence to any other kind of sound.II. Cage’s Music of Changes (1951) a. Composed entirely by chancei. Cage drew up a chart with 64 slots for:1. Number of events per container2. Temposii. Then, Cage selects from eight charts for each of three categories:1. Sounds (including silences and unpitched noises)2. Dynamics and accents3. Durationsiii. Cage’s selections from these charts are done entirely by throwing I-Ching coinsto composer this piece entirely by chance.1. “In Zen they say: if something is boring after two minutes, try it for four.If it is still boring, try it for eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on.Eventually one discovers that it’s not boring at all but very
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