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Subject: Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

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[silence] Re: Re: Re: expanding my library


Chronological Thread 
  • From: Rob Haskins <>
  • To: Stefano Pocci <>
  • Cc: Ralph Lichtensteiger <>, Jared Steward <>, ,
  • Subject: [silence] Re: Re: Re: expanding my library
  • Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:38:48 -0400
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If you're looking for a good text on Zen, might I suggest The Huang Po Doctrine of Universal Mind. The 1947 translation that Cage knew was reset by Grove with a new introduction, and is still available:

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Teaching-Huang-Po-Transmission-Mind/dp/0802150926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309099018&sr=8-1
One can find copies of the original on the used market, and they're not too expensive.

Best,
Rob

On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 10:33 AM, Stefano Pocci <> wrote:
On 06/25/2011 11:19 AM, Ralph Lichtensteiger wrote:
dear Jared,

Here's my Cage-literature list, in anarchic order...
hope this will inspire you.

By Cage:
M: Writings ’67–’72, 1973 by Wesleyan University Press — my favorite
X: writings '79-'82, 1983 by Wesleyan University Press
Empty Words: Writings '73-'78, 1979 by Wesleyan University Press
Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan; 1st edition (June 15, 1961) — essential
A Year from Monday: New Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan; 1st edition (May 15, 1967)
Themes and Variations, Station Hill Press (June 1982) — out of print, but this is a very interesting text
I-VI: MethodStructureInten... (Cage's Charles Eliot Norton Lectures), Wesleyan (October 15, 1997)
Composition In Retrospect, Exact Change (October 1, 2008)
FOR THE BIRDS, In Conversation with Daniel Charles. 239 pp. Boston: Marion Boyars — a brilliant discussion book
John Cage Book of Days 2011, The John Cage Trust; Egmt Min edition (July 31, 2010)
Anarchy: New York City-January 1998, Wesleyan; 1st Wesleyan ed edition (July 15, 2001)
Notations, Something Else Press; First Edition edition (1969) — out of print, a great book

On Cage:
The Cambridge companion to John Cage By David Nicholls — one of the best resources about Cage
Joan Retallack, Musicage: Cage muses on Words-Art-Music, New England 1996 — discussions about art, aesthetics and concepts
Marjorie Perloff & Charles Junkerman, John Cage: Composed in America, Chicago 1994
James Pritchett, The Music of John Cage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993
The Roaring Silence: John Cage: A Life by David Revill
The Boulez-Cage Correspondence [Paperback], Jean-Jacques Nattiez (Editor), Robert Samuels (Editor), Cambridge University Press (January 27, 1995) — important correspondence document

Books and writers that influenced Cage:
Norman O. Brown, Love's Body. New York: Random House, 1966
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. (1927) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 1. London: Luzac. — essential
———. (1933) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 2. London: Luzac.
———. (1934) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 3. London: Luzac.
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, The Transformation of Nature in Art, (Sterling Pub Private Ltd, 1996)
Journal by Henry David Thoreau — essential
The Portable Thoreau (Portable Library, Penguin Books, 698 pages) — essential
Ulysses by James Joyce — essential
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

and the writings of

Gertrude Stein
Buckminster Fuller
Marshall McLuhan
Aristotle
Marcel Duchamp
Ezra Pound

Best,
Ralph Li







After reading all the books suggested on this topic I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the I-Ching yet. It's neither by Cage nor on Cage but it has certainly influenced and been a companion of him for a very long time. I didn't think of it too until I saw Ralph's extensive list by the way:-)


Speaking of Suzuki's volumes, Ralph could you please indicate a more recent reprint? (easily available) I've been wondering about buying a Zen book for a while and I guess the time is up. And thank you Caleb for pointing out Kathan Brown's volume on Cage's visual art. That's another hole I need to fill soon as well.

-- 

Stefano

"When we separate music from
 life what we get is art
 (a compendium of masterpieces)" - John Cage



--
Rob Haskins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and
     Coordinator, Graduate Studies
Department of Music, College of Liberal Arts
University of New Hampshire
M-105, Paul Creative Arts Center
30 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824
603-862-3987 (office)
603-862-3155 (fax)
<http://unh.edu/music/>
<http://robhaskins.net>
<http://musicandmiscellaneous.blogspot.com/>



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