Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

["Andrew Culver" <>]

I can add to this.

1. John expressed the opinion that, of all of Joyce's writing, the Wake was 
the most inventive with syntax. (This aligns with his attraction to N. O. 
Brown's reference to syntax as the arrangement of the army, and with his own 
interest in the demilitarization of language -- see the forward to M).

2. The Wake presents the sticky problem of simultaneously attracting and 
being difficult to get through. The cataloging of sounds and the Writings 
Through provided John with a mode of transportation compatible with his 
nature.

Also:

We sometimes forget what a prominent aspect of John's character it was, that 
he took the admiration he felt for others (Joyce, Satie, Thoreau, Duchamp, 
Fuller, Cunningham, etc.) absolutely seriously, and then went to great effort 
to incorporate his interest in them into his work. In other words, like all 
of us, he thought some people were really cool. But for him, this was neither 
adulation nor critical thinking: it was personally emotional and personally 
intellectual, and he sought out ways to bring these people right into his 
life.

Andrew Culver


-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Heppenstall 
<>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:42:06 
To: 
<>
Subject: [silence] RE: Re: Fwd: Finnegans Wake

I also wonder whether or not the interest is simply related to artists
needing to be informed of all of the current movements in the other arts
regardless of any true appreciation for what is interesting.

Regards,
Carl


-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Crooks 
[mailto:]
 
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2012 5:12 AM
To: 

Subject: [silence] Re: Fwd: Finnegans Wake


Another thing to bear in mind is that Cage frequently found ways to like
materials that appealed to him, even if that meant ignoring some aspects of
that material or creatively reimagining it. Cage's interpretations of
Duchamp or Satie, Thoreau or Suzuki, are not the only ones that are possible
but are among a range of interpretations. Just as Stanley Cavell's
interpretation of Thoreau differs considerably from Cage's interpretation,
Norman O. Brown's interpretation of Joyce differs from Cage's. Brown's
interest in the Wake, like Joseph Campbell's, was motivated in part by
different concerns to those that drove Cage (see Christopher Shultis's paper
'A Living Oxymoron: Norman O.
Brown's Criticism of John Cage', Perspectives of New Music 44(2), 66-87).
With a work as fecund with possible interpretations as Finnegans Wake it
isn't surprising that are many paths through the work and many possible
destinations!
It's also worth remembering that Cage's interest in Joyce and Finnegans Wake
predated his friendship with Brown by several decades.

best,
Ed Crooks