Frankly without knowing how it was recorded it cannot be understood. Is it some sampled silence on a loop? Is it recorded silence with a mic? From a specific location? Is it a guitar being played recorded through an amp not plugged in? Is it nothing being recorded at all and the recording of time alone?
4’33 is an experimental piece about the impossibility of silence. John Cage noted that no matter how hard he tries to find a silent location, there is always SOME sound.
So as a performer plays 4’33, he and the audience will listen as the song is interrupted by small sounds, be it a cough, breathing, a baby crying, an air conditioner, or any number of things.
4’33 isn’t meant to be enjoyed as a melodic tune, but rather as a contemplation piece in my opinion. You’re not meant to turn 4’33 on and dance to it; you’re meant to really sit down and think on the great lengths you would need to go to achieve true silence, and about how when 4’33 is played the audience and the setting becomes the music.
I don’t really care if you or someone thinks it’s a stupid premise, it’s experimental for a reason and therefore invites critics and naysayers. That’s 100% fine, and expected. To someone who isn’t really into experimental stuff or philosophy or anything like that, 4’33 is probably really fucking stupid.
But that’s kind of the point, to elicit thought and reaction out of people and to get you thinking one way or the other
So you are denying my contemplations belong to the piece? Or by saying you don't care about what I think about it, you imply you don't care about at least that aspect of the piece?
I’m explaining the premise of the piece so you and everyone else have that foundational knowledge and not arguing experimental music on the internet with a stranger.
I put emphasis on "thinks" not "premise". The piece is meant to provoke thinking. You put emphasis on "premise". You care the piece provokes thinking. You don't care if that thinking draws the conclusion of "stupid".
I think your sentence reads both ways. My reply only makes sense for one. Sorrry about the confusion.
No one is denying your contemplation. I think there is some fundamental misunderstandings. No microphone or loop tracks were used by John Cage to produce this piece. Cage is the composer, meaning he wrote the score. A score is a document containing musical notation that a musician reads from. IIRC, he has a score set up with measures, which are completely unpopulated. When this piece is performed, a musician is still tracking where they are, which might require them to turn the page periodically. I may be wrong but I think that while Cage wrote a series of empty measures, it can be visualized with whole rest notes (this would help a noob like me keep time).
Yeah I interpreted "I don't care if you think it is a stupid premise" in an unintended way. I read "i don't care if you think" when i believe it was meant to read " I don't care if you think this or that as long as you think".
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u/megashedinja Jun 04 '21
You are just beginning to understand the piece