Out of the Cage
Many years ago I attended a recital
at the University of Illinois concert hall. John Cage was composer-in-residence
that year; and, to the dismay of many, he had chosen to present his 4
minutes and 33 seconds (I think that's the title, or a close approximation).
It consisted of a pianist sitting on the bench in front of the piano and playing
not a note. At the end of the allotted time, the pianist (David Tudor, if memory
serves) simply left the stage. Those who know Cage's work will recognize it
as part of his theory of silence (as opposed to mere rests) in music.
At the U of I, the concert hall was
located in the music building,which also, on the upper floors, held the practice
rooms. The pianist came out on stage to polite applause, seated himself at the
piano, and proceeded to wait out his 4 minutes 33 seconds. However, somewhere
on the upper floors, an aspiring pianist was practicing a passage from a Beethoven
sonata -- the *same* passage -- over and Over and OVER.
But the unseen pianist found the passage
no easy task. And so the audience,seated in the solemn silence of the concert
hall, heard a distant....
A-B-C-D-E-F# [mistake] "Dammit!"
A-B-C-D-E-F# [splat] "Son-of-a-biiiitch!"
A-B-C-D-E-F#....
I omit the other statements out of
my respect for your sensibilities.But you get the idea. It was a stunning performance.
The audience applauded wildly, and Cage himself professed to be pleased. And
indeed, I remember this recital long after other, more ordinary displays of
virtuosity have faded from memory.
-- Arthur Chandler