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John Cage – 4’33 (1952)

 

John Cage's 4'33 is a unique and quite controversial piece of music first performed in 1952. The composition consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of “absolute musical silence," during which the perceived performers do not play any instrument; instead, the audience has been turned into the performers themselves. The creators of this piece change its sound with every audience. In 4'33, the audience is meant to experience the sound of their surroundings, creating a kind of "aural landscape" themselves. Here, the absence of sound is artificial; the orchestra getting ready to perform the piece creates the illusion that sound will soon follow.

However, it was qui[e]te (pun intended) confusing when nothing – at least, no expected sound – was played. Instead, the attention shifted to what had happened in the room. The audience there and within the classroom looked around for an indication of what was happening. The shift of attention from the expectation of an orchestra performing – but not doing so – to the shift toward the room for any signal of what was happening changed the audience’s perspective of attention. The illusion of what was expected turned into something quite confusing but refreshing. Listening for any noise that could answer the silence turned into the background noise that was supposed to be the performance itself. When listening to 4’33 myself, the “what-if…” question kept running through my mind. Honestly, my confusion turned into a moment of meditation, as there was no sound – per se – that we were hearing. My mind automatically went far, far away, so listening to the sounds of the classroom, and admittedly the sighs and confused mutterings of the others, were immensely calming in a way that I was not expecting. This piece is, however, unnecessarily long; 4 minutes and 33 seconds is quite a long time to listen to nothing in the classroom context where we were supposed to listen to musical pieces. Nonetheless, I appreciate Cage's effort to challenge traditional notions of music; it felt like a prank with a big "Fuck the System" written on it.

In the end, conceptual art tends to portray this message in one way or another. The idea that the listener is invited to engage with the world around them in a new and creative way was an interesting approach to sound and music. Besides, it can be anything, meaning it can be interpreted however the listener wishes. However, the length of the piece is still audacious and, may I even claim, pretentious? Like seriously. One minute or two sufficed.

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