Steven L Smith Senior Recital, 1 of 6

4'33" by John Cage.

Nazareth College of Rochester.
April 25, 2008.
Steven Smith is a student from the studio of Dr. Beverly Smoker.
This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Arts in Music.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• nazarethcollege
• john
• cage
• 433

[jkitten7]

Steve, this was brilliant. I always wondered if Naz would allow someone to do 4'33". Awesome. =)

So did you have a timer to let you know when it was up or what? How did you sit so still? I would have gotten fidgity. lol

~Jenn Johnson

[fvox13]

Nope, no timer. Using a timer on this piece would be the equivalent of using a metronome on a "traditional" piece... not allowed during a recital! I basically counted in my head, but didn't get too hung up about it (as you can see, the clip is a tad longer than 4 minutes and 33 seconds! I think I was freaking out about the rest of the recital, and sitting still and breathing deeply helped me to focus for the rest of the program. Hope everything is going well for you and Josh!

[hotlinkcinema]

@fvox13 I am not critiquing your performance - but John Cage always used stopwatches to perform his pieces (see Water Walk, for instance) and David Tudor (Cage's friend, who performed many of his pieces while Cage was alive) also used a stopwatch/timer when performing this piece. Stopwatches and timers were central to his aesthetic. Having said that - there is nothing wrong with doing it sans timer. Just thought you might like to know.