And see Greenaway's film on Cage in his 4 Composers series.
Soon.
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 15:05:56 EST
From: TagYrIt@aol.com
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
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In a message dated 3/26/2002 12:57:51 PM Eastern Standard Time,
RainDog138@aol.com writes:
> i just now am getting into his stuff and could use some suggestions to get a
>
> quick summary of what he is all about. name specific songs rather than
> albums
> as i will probably check out some mp3's before i go and purchase any
> albums.
> one thousand thank-you's. oh and what is the name of that piece that is all
>
> tape splices?
>
>
Although some of Cage's recordings are interesting, I've always found his
several books to be of more interest and more enlightening as to what he's
about.
Dale.
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT COLOR="#0000a0" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Comic Sans MS" LANG="0"><B>In a message dated 3/26/2002 12:57:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, RainDog138@aol.com writes:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">i just now am getting into his stuff and could use some suggestions to get a <BR>
quick summary of what he is all about. name specific songs rather than albums <BR>
as i will probably check out some mp3's before i go and purchase any albums. <BR>
one thousand thank-you's. oh and what is the name of that piece that is all <BR>
tape splices?<BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000a0" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Comic Sans MS" LANG="0"><B><BR>
Although some of Cage's recordings are interesting, I've always found his several books to be of more interest and more enlightening as to what he's about.<BR>
<BR>
Dale.</B></FONT></HTML>
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 14:16:57 -0600
From: William Crump <crumpw@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's a
composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?
William Crump
TagYrIt@aol.com wrote:
>
> Although some of Cage's recordings are interesting, I've always found
> his several books to be of more interest and more enlightening as to
> what he's about.
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 12:47:48 -0800
From: "s~Z" <keithmar@msn.com>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
>>>That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's
a
composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?<<<
I find John Cage's personality much more interesting than his
music.
That's why I love _Indeterminacy_ and the Greenaway film. They
are great starting points because, in each, you get a generous
dose
of his personality and thought, along with the music. Hearing him
read from his writings is great music. And the combination of
Greenaway,
Cage talking, and footage of a live performance honoring various
aspects of his oeuvre make the Greenaway film essential.
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 12:49:48 -0800
From: "Patrice L. Roussel" <proussel@ichips.intel.com>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
On Tue, 26 Mar 2002 14:16:57 -0600 William Crump wrote:
>
> That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's a
> composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?
Yes, more than 50 years after, people curious about modern music still wonder
what to think of John Cage (with the exception of a few early pieces that
aged quite well).
I sometimes imagine Cage in Paradise laughing so loud at the confusion he has
created in modern music.
But I guess we did not try hard enough (which makes you wonder when you cross
the threshold that defines brainwashing...).
Patrice.
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 13:13:08 -0800
From: skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
on 3/26/02 12:16 PM, William Crump at crumpw@bellsouth.net wrote:
> That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's a
> composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?
>
> William Crump
>
I'm in accord with opinion. His theories are entertaining to read, the
scores entertaining to look at, and, for me, his music is not all that. His
showmanship definitely outweighed his show, for me.
skip h
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 13:18:25 -0800
From: Jim Flannery <newgrange@sfo.com>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
William Crump wrote:
> TagYrIt@aol.com wrote:
> > Although some of Cage's recordings are interesting, I've always found
> > his several books to be of more interest and more enlightening as to
> > what he's about.
> That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's a
> composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?
Thing is, you'll most often see that line taken by people who've heard
very little of Cage's music. There are pieces of intense beauty
liberally strewn over half a century of work, it's not too difficult to
Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards«
http://movies.yahoo.com/
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 17:20:48 EST
From: UFOrbK8@aol.com
Subject: john cage.
i see john cage as more of a conceptual composer. i don't find much of his music to be very aesthetically pleasing, which i know is just me so don't bother harassing me about it, but his books seriously changed my life and forever solidified cage as one of my favourite composers. what i find so commendable about cage is his ability to form a highly stylised concept and carry it out with little regard to what it sounds like - he was happy either way - and then try something completely new and not get stuck in a compositional rut.
read 'silence'.
and listen to 'litany for the whale' with the hilliard ensemble. it's really beautiful.
love,
kate who is into whale pieces this week
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 17:12:55 -0600
From: Joseph Zitt <jzitt@metatronpress.com>
Subject: Re: john cage - floodgates part II
On Tue, Mar 26, 2002 at 02:16:57PM -0600, William Crump wrote:
> That's interesting. It doesn't speak well of him, does it? He's a
> composer, yet his books are more interesting than his music?
It doesn't speak so much of him as to what some choose to see in his
work: different media are more effective fordifferent people Some may
pick up on his ideas more readily from the books, the music, or the
visual art work. However, his books are inseparable from his music, as
he worked in and across multiple media, and the books contain, for
examples, scores to some of the music.
For those who would benefit from reading his books, I recommend highly
"MusiCage" (in collaboration with Joan Retallack), "Silence" (his
first and most influential book), and "John Cage: Writer" (a
posthumous collection).
Of the growing numbers of books by others, I strongly recommend "The
Music of John Cage" by James Pritchett, and the anthology "Writings
About John Cage" edited bu Richard Kostelanetz.
It's also true that just listening to recordings gives only a glimpse
of what's in the music. Attending live performances (even, since the
work is so mutable, multiple live performances) or, even more so,
performing the work gives a much clearer view of what his work is
about. (To the extent that it's about "about" :-])
> TagYrIt@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Although some of Cage's recordings are interesting, I've always found
> > his several books to be of more interest and more enlightening as to
