Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Louis Cohen <>]

I was a student of Cage's in 1958 and lived through the frustrating  
years when he and his followers (including me) got publicly and  
privately trashed frequently. This article (the part quoted in these  
messages) is certainly not original; it's just a rehash of what some  
people have been saying for years.

There will always be people who can't tolerate the way in which Cage  
extended boundaries. I found it was a lot easier to go my way by just  
ignoring these comments.

The good news is the extent to which the use of noise and  
indeterminacy have been accepted by young musicians everywhere. I  
perform with these youngsters all the time. It's exhilarating,  and no  
one trashes Cage.

-Lou Cohen


On Nov 7, 2010, at 11:04 PM, 

 wrote:

> The author also rehashes the myth of Cage having no ear for harmony
> (queue Schoenberg, who "at least kind of knew how to compose properly"
> and using the famous "brick wall quotation").