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John Cage’s “4’33” (1952)

 

In his, I would say quite or even (pun alert) quiet experimental piece, “4’33,” Cage observes the ostensible absence of sound. Here, music is made out of those interesting background noises. Therefore, this piece of art has some performative aspects. Cage’s conception of silence would be that there is not actually such a thing as silence. He would argue that if there is sound, it means there is life.

            As I am listening to this piece in class, I can only imagine how some people in the audience must have felt if they did not know what is going on. Especially, if they were some self-proclaimed music experts listening to basically nothing, at least on the exterior. Obviously, on an interior level of interpretation, this piece is all about what is happening in that single moment or ongoing for those 4’33 minutes. Cage is here quite a sneaky link shedding light on the small and everyday sounds with such an absurd and honestly also funny approach to music and life. The bizarre situation almost has a slapstick-like characteristic to it. It features a touch of irony because Cage manages to put the daily sounds in focus. He kind of reweights a part of music that is not typically seen as such and thus redirects the audience to centralize the unsuspected “non-silent.” Cage succeeds to amaze people over the life that they are able to hear and now listen to. He translates life, which you can experience through all senses at the same time, and breaks it down to only the auditory channel so it becomes more comprehensible for the audience.

“4’33” really speaks a universal language on the basis of sounds and music while there is no music in the traditional sense at all. Everybody is theoretically able to understand this silent language. It really is astonishing that the intentional creation of silence is in reality that loud.

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