Cage: 4'33; Music

1. 45', for a speaker
Composed by John Cage
with Frances-Marie Uitti

2. 34'46.776", for piano
Composed by John Cage
with Marianne Schroeder

3. 31'57.9864", for piano
Composed by John Cage
with Nils Vigeland

4. 27'10.554", for percussion
Composed by John Cage
with Robyn Schulkowsky

5. 26'1.1499", for a string player
Composed by John Cage
with Frances-Marie Uitti

6. 4'33", for any ensemble or number of players
Composed by John Cage
with Peter Pfister

7. Two, for flute & piano
Composed by John Cage
with Eberhard Blum , Marianne Schroeder

8. 45', for a speaker
Composed by John Cage
with Eberhard Blum

9. 34'46.776", for piano
Composed by John Cage
with Marianne Schroeder

10. 31'57.9864", for piano
Composed by John Cage
with Nils Vigeland

11. 27'10.554", for percussion
Composed by John Cage
with Robyn Schulkowsky

12. 26'1.1499", for a string player
Composed by John Cage
with Frances-Marie Uitti

13. Music for..., any combination of 1-17 instrumental parts (title of work is completed by number of instruments used)
Composed by John Cage
with Nils Vigeland , Eberhard Blum , Marianne Schroeder , Robyn Schulkowsky , Frances-Marie Uitti

Cage: 4'33; Music,Frances-Marie Uitti,John Cage,Eberhard Blum,Robyn Schulkowsky,Marianne Schroeder,Nils Vigeland,Hat Hut,Chamber,Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard,Classical,Keyboard,Miscellaneous,Music For Solo Strings Without Keyboard,Music for Assorted/Unusual Instrumentation,Music with Spoken Words,Percussion Chamber Music,Solo Woodwind or Single Woodwind with Keyboard/Continuo,Unknown Genre/Unspecified Instrumentation

Average customer rating: Where is the "Bust of Beethoven" skit when we need it the most! Amusing as it is yet infuriating sounds of 'silence' Extrovert & Glorious

4'33" Manufacturer: Hungaroton ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cage, John | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: John Cage: In a Landscape Indeterminacy Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano John Cage: Music for Prepared Piano, Vol. 2 Insomnia ASIN: B000003070 Release Date: 1993-12-08

Customer Reviews:

Where is the "Bust of Beethoven" skit when we need it the most!.......2007-04-30

Ahhhh! 4'33" and with a straight face I'm told by a diehard John Cage fan, "You fail to grasp the "event", Doc, the "attitude" of the piece, where what you term 'silence' is in fact the 'ambient chorus of the hall' [!?] where even a passing cough [or belch or ... ?] by an audience member could conceivably be, in the mind of the listener anyway, the "Appassionata" [!] or indeed the 'essence of a Liszt or a Rachmaninoff' !" to which I promptly replied, "Well, the experience leaves me 'envisioning' at least analogously anyway, since such conjuring becomes a mandate for any 'listener' from the very get-go, the Chopin B-Flat Minor "Funeral March" piece!" Scratch one otherwise decent "agree to disagree" cyber friendship!

Let's get down to cases: the pianist comes to the piano, sits, and except for the piano lid 'adjustment' after watching the 'time' in order to signal the 3 "movements" of 4'33", not a note is played!

C'mon already! I mean if we're doing the old Muppet Show with Victor Borge and Fozzie-Bear "Bust of Beethoven" skit [I loved that one! You know, Victor hits a [purposeful] clinker in the "Moonlight Sonata" and Fozzie makes with the "Did you make a mistake?" and the "Bust of Beethoven" pipes up for the 'defense', as it were, "No, that's the way I wrote it!"]. Anyway, if the purpose 'is' in fact pure skit or shtick, hey, fine, but to seriously pass off 4'33" as no less than the veritable muse itself "manifesting itself to both artist and audience", give me a break!

Yes, I've narrowed my remarks to 4'33" but then this whole business of the "prepared piano" or of bolts, screws, spoons, wires, marbles, 'whatever' either 'precisely set' or indeed simply rolling around the piano strings as allegedly representing "the voice of things to come and/or music of the future", hey, I'll settle for a "Chopsticks" rendition if 'only' for the purpose of some semblance for piece recognition or indeed a return to some form of harmony ... versus dissonance gone amuck but for the 'sake' of dissonance by design!

What's that? Sure! I most certainly 'did' see Andy Russo at one of my "precious classical international piano competitions" [Van Cliburn, Leeds, Chopin, et al] reach over the piano keys and begin a sort of 'pizzicato variation' while literally plucking the piano 'strings' doing that George Crumb piece but hey, did YOU see the face of juror Claude Frank when he saw it happening? Yeah, I know, beauty is in the eye [or ear or, indeed, in this case with 4'33", 'imagination'] of the beholder, true enough, but there are also such things as the proverbial elephant in the room too ... albeit often to the accompanying 'aroma' left by the beast therein!

Doc Tony

Watch now ... a reader in 'wherever' .... "Obviously the good doctor is an ultra staid classical "sic piece" and no doubt fanatical Claudio Arrau fan!" OK, I'll give you this for 4'33", the 'plus' side if you will: no pesky clinkers, missed notes or memory lapses! And hey, the real recital biggie for 4'33" renderings, talk about de facto 'silencing' those artist critics, yes? Or could that audible rumble of the hall air conditioning system suddenly conjure up even to the critic the kettle drum prelude to Thus Spake You-Know-Who! Watch too, yet another reader, "That's it, Doc! 'Now' you have the heart of it all!" ;-)

Amusing as it is yet infuriating.......2007-02-21

4'33" is a solid example of the post/modernist's destruction of art by ideology; and while it is arguable that any condemnation of this destruction--or even calling it destruction at all--belies valuation which ought itself to be deconstructed, I call bull****. And not in the made-up Frankfurt sense.
I like to believe that Beethoven would have punched Cage in the head.
Because, you see, there is within this absurd silliness, a rejection of music. Music is something to be enjoyed for what it is; that is, for the components of music--melody, tone, &c.--and for the emotion behind the music and for the element of design, composition. I don't mean to attempt to set up some criteria for music or art; rather, I will say that there is something about music that is essential to music, something beyond the definition of music, or one might say that music is defined by something that cannot be re-defined without rendering music noise. It seems inexpressible: we can point at the components of music, but to say what music is--
Ligeti pushed the boundaries. Messiaen was innovative. Schoenberg was... something. And so on. And so forth. But this--!
Cage, when a little more serious, can be a bit enjoyable; but the most enjoyable aspect of this album, I think, is the near-silent track--the track which makes a mockery out of placing philosophy over art. No, placing an unreal philosophy over art. Abstraction, the unconcrete and ungrounded. Something thought of in a moment in which he was withdrawn from reality. A fancy: wouldn't it be splendid if all things, the greatest music and the most random sounds, were without error, equal. It seems an avoidance of judgment, an avoidance of valuation--and insofar as it is conscious of its avoidance, itself a valuation, or dis-valuation--a senseless pursuit of the program of re-valuation, without regard for reality.
So, despite the fact that Beethoven would punch Cage in the head, I think 4'33" has some value: it exposes the farce of ridiculous modes of thought.

sounds of 'silence'.......2005-12-15

" I should note that audience noise is somewhat pronounced, but it really presents no obstacle to enjoyment of this magnificent rendition of 4'33". " that was just too funny not to write my own review.

Cage is probably one of the most important of the American avant-garde composers, and is most notorious for this piece, 4'33", in which no noise in delibritly made. "There is no such thing as silence. Something is always happening that makes a sound." It is these unintentioned sounds, especially of the crowd, that is to be regarded as the music of the piece. Cage is infamous for having asked the question, what is music? 4'33" in particular is meant to challenge the conventional definition of music.

He also described his music as being purpossless play, an extention of his Zen Buddhist beleifs. "this play is an affirmation of life-not an attempt to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we are living, which is so excellent once one gets one's mind and desires out the way and lets it act of its own accord."

not for everyone of course, this cd is a good mix of cage's work, certainly a visionary composer whose legacy will last.

Extrovert & Glorious.......2005-07-05

All of the pieces on this disc are excellent, but I wish to call your attention specially to the title piece. I have in my collection most of the extant recordings of 4'33", & have admired most of them, but without doubt this is the most splendid recording available at the present day. The Amadinda Percussion Group is in top form throughout, bringing a sensitivity & brio to the piece that have rarely been approached. The tempi are a bit faster than I am accustomed to, but I found this a welcome change, & if anything, truer to Cage's intentions. The sound quality is first-rate: every nuance is finely chiselled, dynamics are tracked with absolute fidelity. I should note that audience noise is somewhat pronounced, but it really presents no obstacle to enjoyment of this magnificent rendition of 4'33".

Average customer rating:

The Life and Works of Joseph Haydn Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Carl Philipp Emman. Bach | Bach, Carl Philipp Emman. | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Franz Joseph Haydn | Haydn, Franz Joseph | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatinas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances Cello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Life and Works of Franz Schubert Life & Works Life & Works of Bach The Life and Works of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky Brahms: Life & Works ASIN: B0000BXBXT Release Date: 2003-10-21

Average customer rating: Better performances of 4'33" are out there NonStop Flight WOW!

Non Stop Flight Manufacturer: Music & Arts Program ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cage, John | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000DC3D Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

1. 4:33 - Julie Steinberg
2. Vars II - The Hub
3. Mairzy Doats - Zero The Clown
4. Traffic Prayers: Traffic Prayers And Amnesia - Wendy Jeanne Burch/Joe Catalano/Spirit Stick
5. 4:33 - Deep Listening Band
6. Deep Hockets - David Gamper/Deep Listening Band
7. The Last Chances - Deep Listening Band/The Hub/Thomas Buckner/Tom Heasley/Toyoji Tomita/Maggi Payne...

Customer Reviews:

Better performances of 4'33" are out there.......2005-07-05

Both of the renditions of 4'33" to be had here are capably played, but two considerations force me to withhold a recommendation. First, the sound levels are atrocious; I could scarcely hear the performances. Secondly, the tempi were unbearably ponderous. I listened through the entire piece & at the end the first note had yet to be played. I recommend instead the superlative recording put out by the Amadinda Percussion Group, where you will discover an interpretation of the highest calibre.

NonStop Flight.......2004-04-15

This was an amazing concert and I own a CD of the recording.... if you are at all "listening" out there, looking for sound that will take you beyond your normal experience, this collaborative work of incredible musicians, a live recording, get this one and research those who were performing.... you will not be disappointed.

WOW!.......2002-10-31

4:33 has got to be the single best song in western tonality! Wow! I mean what kind of genius could come up with that!

Average customer rating:

Cage: 4'33; Music Manufacturer: Hat Hut ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cage, John | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000001YU9 Release Date: 1995-08-01

Tracks:

1. 45 Mins For A Speaker - Frances-Marie Uitti/Marianne Schroeder/Nils Vigeland/Robyn Schulkowsky
2. 4 Mins 33 Secs (No. 2) (0'00) - Peter Pfister
3. Two - Eberhard Blum/Marianne Schroeder

Tracks:

1. 45 Mins For A Speaker - Eberhard Blum/Marianne Schroeder/Nils Vigeland/Robin Schulkowsky/Frances-Marie Uitti
2. Music For Five - Eberhard Blum/Frances-Marie Uitti/Marianne Schroeder/Nils Vigeland/Robyn Schulkowsky

Average customer rating: An interesting compilation

Music of the Twentieth Century Manufacturer: Cala Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Britten | Britten, Sir Benjamin | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Cage, John | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by George Crumb | Crumb, George | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Górecki, Henryk Mikolaj | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Howells, Herbert | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Martin | Martin, Frank | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Martinu | Martinu, Bohuslav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Penderecki | Penderecki, Krzysztof | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Prokofiev | Prokofiev, Sergei | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schnittke | Schnittke, Alfred | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Shostakovich | Shostakovich, Dmitri | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tavener | Tavener, John Kenneth | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music | Baroque | Classical | General | Modern & 20th Century | Romantic | Sinfonia | Sinfonia Concertante Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Requiems | Forms & Genres | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Flute | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Cello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Requiems | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Requiems | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Choruses | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Choruses | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music ASIN: B00000FDDD Release Date: 1994-12-28

Tracks:

1. The Dream Of The Cherry Blossoms
2. Hypothetically Murdered: Part I : Act I, Gallop
3. Huit Preludes: La colombe
4. String Quartet No. 3 - 3rd Movement
5. The Consolations Of Scholarship: Lamento
6. Flute Sonata No. 1 - 3rd Movement
7. Requiem: I: Salvator mundi
8. Romeo And Juliet - Juliet As A Young Girl
9. Der Unterbrochene Gedenke ('The Broken Thought')
10. 4'33 - 1. Tacet
11. The Salley Gardens
12. White Man Sleeps: 1st Movement
13. Mass - 2: Gloria
14. Sonata For Cello And Piano: Presto
15. The Lamb
16. Black Angels - Extract
17. Totus Tuus

Customer Reviews:

An interesting compilation.......2007-02-06

Don't know how you got here, but good digging. This album is a sampler from United records, a company out of the UK. It contains a fairly good cross section of 20th century composers. Many pieces stand out - Keiko Abe's, the Shostakovich piece, the Schnittke sonata. The inclusion of John Cage's 4'33 is negligible. It was the piece that drove me to dig up this CD. I knew what it was (silence), but I at least expected ambient crowd noise (I don't think it was recorded live). It being included here amidst such great music, it acts like a dead weight. I think there were surely more representative John Cage pieces they could've selected. But enough of my griping.
If you're looking for an intro into some of the more avant-garde leanings of 20th century classical, this one works halfway. Overall, a good disc with some pieces that will surely find their way into your head. You might have to look hard for this - it was on my Wish List for a year and a half without any sellers- but it can be worth it.
If ANYONE reads this, click the helpful button. I'm just curious to see if anyone else finds this CD out here in the Amazon bins.

Average customer rating:

Lifting the Veil Manufacturer: Arizona University Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by J.S. Bach | Bach, Johann Sebastian | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Cage, John | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music | Baroque | Classical | General | Modern & 20th Century | Romantic | Sinfonia | Sinfonia Concertante General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Electronic | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music | Computer General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Passions | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000G1OM Release Date: 1998-11-24

Tracks:

1. Lifting The Veil: A Musical Narration Celebrating The New Millenium: Darkness Was Hidden By Darkness - George Wolfe/Keith Scheer/Rev. Mary Maddox
2. Lifting The Veil: A Musical Narration Celebrating The New Millenium: The Kingdom Within - George Wolfe/Keith Scheer/Rev. Mary Maddox
3. Lifting The Veil: A Musical Narration Celebrating The New Millenium: The Lighting From The East - George Wolfe/Keith Scheer/Rev. Mary Maddox
4. Praatah Smarana Stotra - Melkote Shivaswamy
5. Untitled - George Wolfe
6. Canon Inversus - George Wolfe
7. Gladly Will I Take My Portion - George Wolfe/Phillip S. Ewart/Mitchell Andrews
8. Phoenix - George Wolfe
9. Music: 1/4nt=96 - George Wolfe/Robert Palmer
10. Music: 1/4nt=120 - George Wolfe/Robert Palmer
11. Music: 1/4nt=84 - George Wolfe/Robert Palmer
12. Solar Dreams - George Wolfe

Music Review:

1. Chamber Music for Harp, Flute and Strings
2. Clarinet Concerto / Bassoon Conerto
3. Claudio Monteverdi: Madrigali Fatta Spirituale (Motets from the Fourth & Fifth Books of Madrigals) - Ex Cathedra
4. Cohler on Clarinet
5. Concerto Transcriptions 1-5,8,10 & 13
6. Couperin: Le Grand Concerts Royaux
7. Couperin: Le Grand/D'Hervelois: La Couprin/Forqueray: La Couperin/Siret: Passacaille
8. Elliott Schwartz: Dream Works, Chamber Music
9. Expanding Horizons [Live]
10. Extended Resources, Vol.6

Music Review

music review

Music Review

Psychedelic Flashbacks V.5: Trance [Import]

Tableaux de Provence

The Complete Olimpia Boronat

Unauthorized

Ultimate 16: The Very Best of Classic Rock

Sufriendo a Solas

The Best of Promise Keepers, Vol. 3

The Singles

The Legends Collection: The Willie Nelson Collection

Slowly

The Light

Supernova

Tyrantanic [CD-single] [Import]

T-Bone Jumps Again

Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim