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Cage

 John Cage:

“4’33“

  Well… how do I start? I find “4’33“ by John Cage and how it is carried out very amusing. Cage was of the opinion that “there is no such thing as silence“ and I guess “4’33“ perfectly represents this philosophy. I would argue that Cage tries to display his idea of sound and music with this piece and does that in a sarcastic, exaggerated way. He needs a whole orchestra and a fully booked hall to play not one tone?! There are instructions for the conductor on how to move and a clock to show when to turn a page and when the piece is over. The act of turning a page is very extravagant and comes with a coughing, laughing, and moving audience. At some points it feels as if the piece is making fun of the classic idea of music; the conductor wipes his sweat although there is no reason to sweat and the musicians sometimes have to hide their own laughter.

            The only noise happening during the piece comes from the audience and from the conductor turning a page. One cannot say that there were four minutes of silence because that is basically not true. “If there is sound it means that there is life“, right? That is shown here. Sneezing, coughing, breathing, whispering, dropping something, moving, and other sounds make “4’33“ what it is: a piece the audience creates and shows how “silence“ can also be very loud. 

            I would argue that many know the feeling: you are not allowed to move so your body tells you to move, you are not allowed to laugh yet your body tells you to lough… I think you know what I mean. I can only imagine how long these four minutes feel for the audience. This might be a great exercise for ones mind. The piece forces you to concentrate solely on yourself and the natural sounds you and the others around you make. Sitting still and quiet for a long time and basically doing nothing is very hard for some people, especially now that there are distractions everywhere by television, the loudspeaker next to the couch, the phone on your nightstand, etc. To concentrate on one thing only and doing one thing consciously is not easy anymore, therefore this piece might be a great lesson for everyone. The applause in the end shows great interest for pieces that are not perceived as music by the western society.
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