Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 08:18:50 -0600 (CST)
From: Christopher Coleman <coleman-AT-library.vanderbilt.edu>
Subject: Re: indecent transmission (hot hot graphics)



> John Cage, may his name be magnified, once foolishly pursued the course of minimalism
> to the point of attempting to perceive complete silence (remember those piano
> pieces where his hands floated above the keys, never touching 
them);

The Cage piece to which I assume you are referring, 4'33", is really 
not about silence at all, though.  It's about the absence of silence, 
the noise of air-conditioning, breathing, police sirens outside the 
concert hall, coughing, etc., i.e. the music of everyday life.  The 
piece says, "OK, for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, you are 
going to listen to all those things that you always ignore, the white 
noise that you assume is silence, and hear it as music."

Quietly,
Chris Coleman

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