Product Description

John Cage, a leading figure of the American musical avant-garde and lecturer and writer extraordinary, dedicated himself to the search for new horizons in musical composition. Silence is a collection of some of the essays and lectures that have made John Cage's name synonymous with all that is unpredictable and exciting in contemporary miusic. Outrageous they may be, but to anyone who is receptive to new ideas, to fresh and original ways of looking at and listening to things, they are a mine of fascinating discovery. And, as Cage fans will expect, the book also contains a wealth of handy information on collecting mushrooms, fishing through ice, and so on, as well as many anecdotes and Zen-type stories which illustrate Cage's exuberant artistic pre-occupations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38225 in Books
• Published on: 1973-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
John Cage, a leading figure of the American musical avant-garde and lecturer and writer extraordinary, dedicated himself to the search for new horizons in musical composition. His method of composition: an amalgam of chance operations, latitude in performace, the use of electronic sound and the inclusion of ambient noise. His aim: to increase the territory of his art and to celebrate the richness of life.

Customer Reviews

A cage went in search of a bird
This is quite simply my favourite book. This reprint is not on the best quality paper, but never mind. Most books can give you some insight into somebody else's ideas. This book not only gives great insight into the mind of a great twentieth century thinker, but is also an exploration of the readers mind. You, the reader, are forced (seduced?) into active thinking about a wonderful range of subjects - many far removed from music. This is quite possibly the best work of philosophy for the free thinker. Cage never tells you what or how to think about anything, but teases the imagination into the realization that not only are we wonderful individuals, but that the natural world can have as much fascination as we are capable of. Every sound, even every mushroom is infinitely interesting.

An excellent book for setting your mind free - or so it seems to me.

wouldn't be without it
I have had this book for many years and return to it again and again whenever I want inspiration and a broad panoramic view that has no truck with opinions and viewpoints.

It is one of the great delights of my life to have actually met this remarkable man and it would not be overstating the case to call him a sage. As Robert Rauschenberg was breaking the ground in painting so John Cage was producing his wake up calls in music that bore no resemblance to the conventions of the past.

Influenced profoundly by Zen Buddhism John Cage produced these lectures and talks over many years and delivered them in much the same way as they are produced in the book, stage managed sometimes to the second and as will be seen sometimes with long pauses and various other tongue in cheek approaches. His talks in the book are interspersed with amusing anecdotes from his life.

The book in so many ways reflects the man as he was, a reluctance to impose views, a highly original and exploratory nature that went into the depths of life, of music, of art and of spiritual development.