C

Such a dictum is intentionally paradoxical, for

most of his musico-philosophical statements

over the past thirty years reflect not only his

adherence to the tenets of Zen Buddhism but

also his unique approach to the world of

sound. The son of an inventor, Cage was born

in Los Angeles and received instruction

from Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg,

two of the most influential composer-teachers

in America during the 1930s. His early

chamber works and songs are generally

chromatic, dissonant and confined to ranges

of twenty-five notes arranged in contrapuntal

textures. Study under the guidance of Cowell

at the New School for Social Research,

New York, enabled him to survey develop-

ments in contemporary, oriental and folk

musics with the result that he formed a per-

cussion group which specialized in the use of

unusual instruments such as tin cans, brake

drums, water gongs and flower pots creating

wholly new sonorities. Representative works

of this period are three pieces entitled

Construction in Metal and Amores which

includes a part for Cage’s own invention, the

‘prepared piano’ whose sound is modified

with the addition of screws, bolts, pieces of

wood and rubber placed between the strings:

later pieces using this medium were the

Sonatas and Interludes (1946-8), a host of

works written in collaboration with the

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and

the Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber

Orchestra (1951). A continuing interest in

the musical potential of unusual sounds

promoted experiments with electronic sources

such as variable speed turntables and radio

signals (Imaginary Landscape, Nos 1 and 4 of

1939 and 1951); later gramophone cartridges,

contact microphones and amplifiers were

used.