until Sunday June 22 2014
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On a warm summer evening in August 1952 pianist David Tudor approached a piano on stage at the Maverick Concert Hall in Woodstock, New York. Stopwatch in hand, Tudor sat before the piano and, without striking a note, premiered John Cage's composition 4'33".
Commonly known as Cage's “silent” piece, 4'33" comprises three movements during which a performer—or performers—are instructed to produce no intentional sounds for four minutes and 33 seconds.
This radical gesture upended the conventional structure of music, shifting attention from the performer to the audience, and allowing for endless possibilities of ambient sounds to fill the space.Today, 4'33" is recognized as a groundbreaking work that synthesizes Cage's interests in chance operations, experimental music, and visual arts.
