Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Rod Stasick <>]

I’ve enjoyed this recording for over a decade and the piece you’re referring to is actually “Variations I”

(“V…II” wasn’t composed until about 3 years later).

“Communication" is printed in “Silence.” It’s the third part of his “Composition As Process” text.

Text reading - especially by Cage - often had a quieting, mesmerizing effect - until something funny was said,

so I think the readings were almost always quieter than the music works - especially in the 50s!

(except, maybe Part III of “Empty Words” in Italy).

If I remember correctly, the occasional chuckle might be from the poorly translated text that was 

handed out to audience members. I think that most instances of the word “they” were mistranslated 

to “you” - creating some possibly uncomfortable statements not meant to insult the audience.

There’s always the knee-jerk “Emperor without clothes" statement when it comes to these kinds of things

and people will jeer. Just last night, I was trying to convince a guy who, normally, enjoys the work 

of composers like Cage and Ustvolskaya, for example, but screamed “Emperor” when it came to 

Salvatore Sciarrino’s Piano Sonatas, to, not necessarily “learn to like” the Sonatas, 

but to consider reading text about the intention behind them first before coming to a full judgement.

Anyway, good to see action here. I was *this* close, last week, to mentioning the death of David Cope

who just might’ve  influenced a lot of modern music folks with his writings over the years.

Stay wired and burn bright, no dimming allowed.

Rod

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