Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[David Badagnani <>]

From John Cage conversation with Lars Gunnar Bodin & Bengt Emil Johnson, in Kostelanetz, Richard, 1988, ed., Conversing with Cage, New York: Limelight., 69-70 (found at http://solomonsmusic.net/4min33se.htm)

In 1962, Cage wrote a 4'33" No. 2, which is also titled 0'00", "to be performed in any way by anyone". It is a completely different piece. The score, entirely verbal, states, "In a situation provided with maximum amplification (no feedback), perform a disciplined action, with any interruptions, fulfilling in whole, or in part, an obligation to others. No two performances are to be of the same action, nor may any action be the performance of a 'musical composition'. No attention is to be given to the situation (electronic, musical theatrical)." This is a quasi-theatrical work, and its primary distinction in sound is the provision of maximum amplification and an indefinite length. The title 0'00" refers to unmeasured time. "I'm trying to find a way to make music that does not depend on time . . . . [It's] nothing but the continuation of one's daily work . . . . What the piece is trying to say is that everything we do is music, or can become music through the use of microphones, so that everything I'm doing apart from what I'm saying, produces sound."

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David Badagnani

Kent, Ohio

USA