The Cambridge Companion to John Cage

Celebrates the richness and diversity of Cage's achievements, providing a rounded portrait of an influential composer.

David Nicholls (Edited by)

9780521789684, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 August 2002

304 pages, 6 b/w illus. 3 tables 37 music examples
24.4 x 17.5 x 1.5 cm, 0.52 kg

'… find this collection of 14 essays an amiable and accessible companion … this delightful and informative book.' BBC Music Magazine

John Cage (1912–1992) was without doubt one of the most important and influential figures in twentieth-century music. Pupil of Schoenberg, Henry Cowell, Marcel Duchamp, and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, among others, he spent much of his career in pursuit of an unusual goal: 'giving up control so that sounds can be sounds', as he put it. This book celebrates the richness and diversity of Cage's achievements - the development of the prepared piano and of the percussion orchestra, the adoption of chance and of indeterminacy, the employment of electronic resources and of graphic notation, and the questioning of the most fundamental tenets of Western art music. Besides composing around 300 works, he was also a prolific performer, writer, poet, and visual artist. Written by a team of experts, this Companion discusses Cage's background, his work, and its performance and reception, providing in sum a fully rounded portrait of a fascinating figure.

List of illustrations
Notes on contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Part I. Aesthetic Contexts: 1. Cage and America David Nicholls
2. Cage and Europe Christopher Shultis
3. Cage and Asia: history and sources David W. Patterson
Part II. Sounds, Words, Images: 4. Music I: to the late 1940s David W. Bernstein
5. Words and writings David W. Patterson
6. Towards infinity: Cage in the 1950s and 1960s David Nicholls
7. Visual art Kathan Brown
8. Music II: from the late 1960s William Brooks
Part III. Interaction and Influence: 9. Cage's collaborations Leta E. Miller
10. Cage and Tudor John Holzaepfel
11. Cage and high modernism David W. Bernstein
12. Music and society William Brooks
13. Cage and postmodernism Alastair Williams
14. No escape from heaven: John Cage as father figure Kyle Gann
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6]