By Jack Marley
John Cage was one of the most important composers of the 20th century. He rose to prominence after the 2nd World War when he began composing pieces using totally random elements like the flipping of a coin. His most famous piece is 4’33”, in which the performer sits in silence for the title’s duration. But beyond his radical experimentalism and important place in musical history, what else is there to know about John Cage?
John Cage in Harvard University’s Anechoic Chamber
1. He created a new type of piano
One of John Cage’s best known early works is the Sonatas and Interludes, composed in 1940s. Though it is performed sat at a conventional grand piano, the instrument is completely different, with each note having a uniquely altered sound. Cage achieved this by tampering with the strings, adding various items like screws, bolts, rubber, and plastic to alter how they vibrate. Listen to the weird and eerie effect this has on the music.
2. He appeared on American National Television
John Cage was not afraid to perform his unusual compositions for public audiences. He even permitted laughter at their apparent absurdity, though made it clear he was totally serious about these compositions. This video shows a middle-aged Cage performing ‘Water Walk’ on the primetime panel show I’ve Got a Secret in 1960.
3. He Taught Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono is perhaps best known for her conceptual art and marriage to pop legend John Lennon. But before they met, she was a student of John Cage’s, taking his class in experimental composition at New York’s New School for Social Research. This class was a cornerstone of New York’s avant-garde scene in the early 1960s and introduced Ono to many other experimental musicians and performers who supported her career. Indeed, she first Lennon whilst trying to obtain a Beatles manuscript for John Cage’s publication ‘Notations’.
4.He was an expert in Mycology
That’s the study of mushrooms to you and me. An enduring passion throughout Cage’s life was fungi foraging, and he left behind a huge collection of mushroom-related paraphernalia. This hobby came with a risk though: in 1954 he nearly died after misidentifying a poisonous mushroom and eating it. On the other hand, he won the equivalent to $8,000 (£3,000) by
perfectly answering complex questions on the topic on the Italian game show Double or Nothing.
5. His life partner was a famous dancer
John Cage spent most of his adult life in a personal and professional partnership with the dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham. Establishing his own Merce Cummingham Dance Company, Cunningham created a radical new approach to dance, exploring the full range of human movement and introducing change elements into choreography. He and Cage collaborated on various projects, built around the premise that music and dance didn’t have to be perfectly co-ordinated, but allowed to co-exist freely. Watch Cummingham and his company perform alongside Cage reading some of his own writings: