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December 09, 2004
John Cage & me
A couple of years ago I sat listening to John Cage's string quartets as performed by The Arditti Quartet on Mode records. I had purchased them that afternoon.It was about 1:00 o'clock in the morning, and I live in a quiet neighborhood. The configuration of my stereo is such that I can not see the CD player or its display while I am listening. As a result, in pieces with protracted silences, I can not, at first listening, be certain when a particular recording has ended. I have no visual clues.
The house was quiet and after a few moments I noticed that I had not heard a violin for a while. As I wasn't sure the piece was ended, I began listening more intently. Sometimes, after all, John Cage's music contains long pauses and it can also be remarkably quiet. Gradually, I became aware of the sounds of my house: The low hum of the refrigerator, the fluorescent kitchen light and then, listening more intently still, the sounds from further away: Highway 36 and, very faintly, the ocean further beyond. It occurred to me that these sounds flowed from the music, and creating this expanded awareness of sound in the world was exactly what John Cage intended.
Posted by apc at December 9, 2004 10:18 PM