Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Matt Rogalsky <>]

On 2011-10-25, at 12:35 PM, Josh Ronsen wrote:

> 
> Did Cage mean it as a joke? 


If you consult the actual score, there is the additional instruction that the 
action to be performed should be "Fulfilling in whole or in part an 
obligation to others."

I don't see this piece as a joke at all, in fact I am pretty sure that Cage 
made this piece as a kind of practicality since at this time (Oct 1962) he 
found himself overwhelmed with obligations to others: requests for 
correspondence, compositions, etc.  So he made performances out of the 
actions he had to perform anyway. You could say that the "organization" of 
the work is inherent in the activity, whatever it is.

Also in the score:
"The first performance was the writing of this manuscript"

So the piece is highly self-reflexive...