James Tenney plays John Cage 2/sound. at the Schindler House

[weareeachother]

incredible.

[carliboy908]

gamelan springs to mind, I actually quite like it..can't knock someone for pushing the boundaries of sound..hence why I like Sonic Youth, Autechre..I like a challenge

[sixfeetjenna]

This is simply beautiful

[gercog88]

I love his ideas, but who will pay a for holes in piano?

[jpb267]

the screws are not to be screwed into the piano. They are slid in between the strings to create harmonics. You should research before you comment.

[lazychump]

how are these sounds achieved? by that book resting on the strings?

Amazing stuff. Just found out about Cage today.

[TehUberNoobLol]

Screws are slid in between some strings at certain points. Along with other things like rubber bands.

[impy4ever]

O.K., these two were sonatas I and II. Would you like to add this info in the file's description? Thank you.

[Ronnylama]

I met John Cage in 1990 or 91....I was attending A Cornish Event (John Cage taught at Cornish in mid century). It was a dual concert with George Harrison. At the time (being an Art major) I thought John was George. Hahahaha I liked the handshake of George (John) and his eyes were inescapably Humble.......I ran back to my apartment and painted the inspiration. In my SPIRIT.....I Find JOHN CAGE

[franciscoruizb]

I don't deny the creativity behind this, but i dont like it. The merit is for discovering, developing or whatever the style, but i can do music with anything from cage's perspective.

[ttoe]

I don't like this particular performance, but the piece itself is wonderful.

[jeffreycollins]

i think one of the reasons why people can't seem to get into Cage's music...or Non Music. Is that his use of a piano leads people to think they are going to hear a piano. When the player begins to play and it dosen't sound like a piano...people aren't as open minded as they always think they are. And react as such.

[joakocai]

Si no te gusta no lo mires...

A mi si me gusta.

If you don't like it, don't watch it...

I like it.

[nudopiano]

I cant said it better.

No lo pude haber dicho mejor

[fraser136]

the poor piano..

[onemiketwelve]

This isn't music. That's like saying me pissing on a bunch of copper is art. Oh wait you people probably WOULD find it to be art. You can argue all you want but you are the minority and you'll be hard pressed to convert anyone into your viewpoint. When you start thinking that everyone else is driving the wrong way, then its likely you who's driving on the wrong side.

[rockstar1000202]

Music is what you perceive it to be. Cage thought of plain sounds as music, as well as harmonies. You might only perceive music as being harmonies or sounds and rhythms working together. Some people think this is music, and some people don't. Music is what you make it to be.

[dtnyc5000]

I don't like it either but; 1. He only altered the way the sound comes out but the notes played sound like a regular contemporary musical piece of perhaps impressionist influence. 2. I strongly disagree in that minorities are to be automatically shut down and in fact, I firmly believe most every spark of change and/or evolution emanates from ONE individual and diseminates rather slowly if ever. Expressions rapidly accepted by the masses often seem of egotistic and ultimately destructive nature.

[opensourceguitar]

its a matter of taste... nothing is good or bad...only what you think it is. In music you can drive the wrong way, this is what gave birth to the music even you like. Also, you might just deathly affraid of the unknow...

[bonbonchanson]

I'm glad at least you took the time to listen to this piece to form an opinion. But I have to break it to you though honey, this piece of music IS art. Art and the artists who create it are not necessarily in the business of making a fan out of you, that's what popular music is for.

[davidsbuendler]

i think what cage and other modern "composers" were ignorant of is that art is there to move people, to strike them with a kind of beauty and magic. good music is always "popular". this distinction between "serious" and "popular" music is just an invention of the 20th century and it's totally stupid. beethoven was serious and popular and entertaining at the same time. just as mozart or chopin or schumann. or the beatles or radiohead or pink floyd. but cage isn't.

[bonbonchanson]

are you trying to say there is no "beauty or magic" within John Cage's music? Cage is just as beautiful as Mozart is to me. You just are in need of some aural recalibration possibly. The idea that good music is always popular is the biggest piece of poop I have heard all day. Does that inverse relationship hold true? Popular music is always good? If it sounds good, it is good. whether 1 person hears it or a million do.

[davidsbuendler]

but that's the problem. if you need an "aural recalibration" to enjoy the music... it's just stupid. and i don't believe that you can really judge about good and bad music. but one thing that you can observe throught history is that the stuff which is considered the best by the experts is also the most popular. like beethoven, bach, chopin, debussy, schönberg, the beatles, and so on. and i'm no cage hater. i just don't like stuff like 4'33 or this piece which is played for 600 years.

[davidsbuendler]

because well.. everybody can have "funny" ideas like that. but to write a 3 minute song which millions of people can enjoy and which says something to the people is so much harder and it makes so much more sense. at least for me. nobody will listen for 600 years. and nobody will really be touched by 4'33 silence. it's rather making fun of the people. which isn't a good thing.

[devilmech666]

I think what you are ignorant of is that what moves you isn't what moves everyone else. This piece has much magic and beauty in it. In fact, it was one of the pieces on the program for my solo performance to acquire my Doctorate in Piano Performance. And the piece for which I received the loudest and longest applause.

Cage happens to be one of the most widely performed composers of the 20th century, along with the likes of Stravinsky and Schoenberg.

[khbgkh]

the problem is that you go from making music for the sake of music to making music in order to make some statement. Any music that sounds like my niece could play it isn't worth listening to in my opinion.

[TarTwinkle]

Appreciation relies on understanding. Some languages sound like my pet chimp could vocalize, in my opinion, but they are still worth listening to because I have a teenie weenie mind and hope to explore other ways of seeing this beautiful world in its infinitesimal complexities.

And, this music not only embodies beauty well beyond fifths or thirds but also manages to carry with it complex statements, the true mark of genius.

Cage's 4'33 is about respecting the audience, not making fun of them.

[CarlosArielVarela]

Music is not always organized sound and silence over time, that would be limitate it... well done, this is music too.

[vidaro]

People who loathe Cage are generally the same kind of people who judge paintings based on whether or not they would like to have them hanging on their living room walls.

[revoltz7]

I give up... As long as there are naked emporers there will always be people telling him that his clothes look lovely.

[universalflowster]

there is no music. there is only music.

[fullthroat]

music is, when "you" say it is or not...

[oscarlazzarino]

In case you didn't notice, this is noise, not music.

[davis1337]

music = organised sound. this is organised sound.

[oscarlazzarino]

Music = rhythm + harmony + melody + structure + form + texture.

It takes more than a few organised sounds to make music.

[gargantuan13]

Then I guess tribal drumming isn't music since there isn't melody. And I guess Gregorian chant isn't music since there is no harmony.

Is a bird singing music.

There are textures at work in this piece, and, strange and dissonant they may be, but there are harmonies, too.

Music isn't as definable as you seem to think, if it was, we would be in a sad existence.

[chubsoffire]

Music is defined as "Organized sound and silence over time" nothing more or less. That is a definition that no one can argue over.

[iwanttowatchsomethin]

Since when do definitions stop arguments? We can still argue over the definitions. There is no end to argument, or thankfully, to further conversations. Your definition while very general and open in many respects, is still reductionist, and seeks, I think, to close further exploration around an opinion you're going to stick to.

[jeybens]

well said oscarlazzarino, at least someone who is a minimum intelligent

[bonbonchanson]

music=sounds good. Sounds great to my ears. You Cage haters need to lighten up!

[alertarte]

Hey, when you compose? what do you use? Sound ok. what is a sound? it's something that you heard basically. And why you have to choose orchestal sound or traditional sounds? From your point of view the saxophone cannot be recognize as musical instrument because Haydn didn't know it. Come on! Don't be so conservator!!!

[gargantuan13]

I'm on you side, but how do you have accidently type "conservator" and think you typed conservative? hahahah

[symoncarpediem]

Very funny comment. What is music? What is melody? Your ear is used to the simplest form of expression of melody wich is probably the concept of theme. What is a melody in gregorian chants? in African drumming? depends on context. Here, the rythm and structure are more complex than what we are used to in radio, hallelujah!

[SphericalMiracle]

Sweet. Sounds like an ethnic percussion ensemble (like a gamelan) with cymbals and kalimba, through which a piano happens to wander. Instant favorite.

[iwanttowatchsomethin]

Sorry to hear this. R.I.P.

[SambaDisaWinner]

Your playing it to sharply!

[daposevvg]

Yes!

[richragsdale]

awesome!

[badhorse3]

The late James Tenney is a friend of and expert on John Cage's music (as well as that of American 20th century composers). As such he is uniquely qualified to perform these pieces. Search for Tenney's own pieces such as his "WAKE for Charles Ives".

[Cryosaur]

Late? Did he die?

[badhorse3]

Unfortunately Tenney passed away last summer after his lung cancer returned from remission.

[pocoapoco2]

Agh, His piano isn't prepared well enough. It still sounds too much like a piano a lot of the time.

[SambaDisaWinner]

yeh i agree

[adamsebwolf]

This is great, thanks!

[Blumpkinlvr]

yes thank you, very beautiful

[neeeiiiilll]

thanks for sharing