MUSICAGE

The pioneering composer and music theorist makes his final on the totality of his work and thought in these three wide-ranging dialogues. "I was obliged to find a radical way to work ― to get at the real, at the root of the matter," John Cage says in this trio of dialogues, completed just days before his death. This quest led him beyond the bounds of convention in all his musical, written, and visual pieces. The resulting expansion of the definition of art earned him a reputation as one of America's most influential contemporary artists. Joan Retallack's conversations with Cage explore his artistic production in its entirety. Cage's comments range from his theories of chance and indeterminate composition to his long-time collaboration with Merce Cunningham to the aesthetics of his multimedia works. In her comprehensive introduction, Retallack describes Cage's lifelong project as "dislodging cultural authoritarianism and gridlock by inviting surprising conjunctions within carefully delimited frameworks and processes." Consummate performer to the end, Cage delivers here just such a conjunction ― a tour de force that provides new insights into the man and a clearer view of the status of art in the twentieth century.

Autorentext

John Cage and Joan Retallack

Inhalt

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: Conversations in Retrospect - Joan Retallack WORDS Art is Either a Complaint or Do Something Else - John Cage Cage's Loft, New York City: September 6-7, 1990 - John Cage and Joan Retallack VISUAL ART Cage's Loft, New York City: October 21-23, 1991 - John Cage and Joan Retallack MUSIC Cage's Loft, New York City: July 15-17 1992 - John Cage and Joan Retallack July 18, 1992 - John Cage, Joan Retallack, and Michael Bach July 30, 1992 - John Cage and Joan Retallack Appendixes A. Selected Cage Computer Programs B. Mesostic Introduction to The First Meeting of the Satie Society C, Writing through Ulysses (Muoyce II). Typescript Page from Part 17 based on the "Nightgown" section of Ulysses D. Excerpts from Manuscript and Score of Two (1992) E. Notated Time Bracket Sheets for Thirteen (1992) Pages 14, 15,16 F. Writing through Ulysses (Muoyce II), Part 5 G. IC Supply Sheet Marked by Cage with Red, Blue and Black Pencils H. Excerpts from Score for Europera 5 I. Europera 5 at MOMA J. Letter Outlining Plans for Noh-opera K. Notated Time Bracket Sheets for 59 (1992), Pages 2 and 4 L. Project for Hanau Squatters M. First Page of One (1991) N. First Page of Ten (1991), Violin I Index