I have never been able to write off the history of organizational music of the Western world, as I doubt anyone else has. But I think Cage’s obvious contribution here was to bring to light the fact that this hyper-organization was only one expression, perhaps in the most restricted form of such expression, of the lived music around us. The extent to which noise, disharmony, and ambiance have pervaded Western (popular) music in the latter part of Cage’s life is a testament to the power of this thinking. Cage foresaw the coming of the synthetic age, the ambient movement, the “noise” movement, cut-ups, radiophonic experimentation, and the necessary completion they provide to the already-fruitful composed musical cultures.
The above quote is from a nice piece of writing over at Mighty Shocks. He also has some comments about how Cage and post-Cage music relates to Zen practice and meditation about which I have serious reservations. Despite that, it is an excellent essay that I recommend to everyone.
Tags: philosophy