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A Year from Monday: New Lectures and Writings
Includes lectures, essays, diaries and other writings, including "How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)" and "Juilliard Lecture."
179 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1967
13 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
John Cage
258books210followersJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.
Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4�33�, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the 20th century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946�48).
His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933�35), both known for their radical innovations in music and coincidentally their shared love of mushrooms, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life � not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".
Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4�33�, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the 20th century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946�48).
His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933�35), both known for their radical innovations in music and coincidentally their shared love of mushrooms, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to the idea of chance-controlled music, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on changing events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life � not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living".
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 23, 2017
Zen inspired composer, writer, teacher, artist John Cage was one of the most inportant and challenging artists in the 20th century. His music challenged centuries old concepts of music and performance and his his zen influence was ever present. His writings are superb displays of a brilliant mind, a classic wit and a gentle spirit.
May 27, 2008
another book i come back to every few months
November 3, 2013
these writings are alarmingly prophetic, and his poetry is beautiful and inventive.
Read
February 4, 2023cage is such an awful storyteller reading this has made me question any profundity or telos of the aleatoric music movement.
March 27, 2013
sounds aren't people, they're sounds, silly!
December 22, 2020
2 stars for turning me onto the music of Toshi Ichiyanagi
October 11, 2022
Dude really loves fungi, reminds of that one Millenial Problem solver who turned down the prize money to go pick mushrooms. Apart from all that sporific wisdom, there are countless gems strewn through, especially if you have a fancy for Eastern philosophies. The application of these philosophies to deconstructing music (and sound generally) is a really... humbling perspective toward high art. There is a great deal of fun throughout too, it's necessary! I laughed out loud at several instances, especially learning How to Pass, Kick, Fall, And Run. Plus, Cage takes his knack for messing with form ("anytime a circle is drawn, I try to find a way out of it) to make for some interesting reading, as far as moving eyes across page goes.
The serious takes are not taken so seriously. There are many somber reflections, as well as a grounded awareness which is refreshing. This too is necessary because his politics were also influenced by the fetish for mass architectural sciences that was so commonplace at the time. This, for me, provides an interesting parallel to current feelings about the prospects of the internet for ameliorating world woes.
Through and through intriguing, if difficultly dense at times. I am in no way educated in music theory but followed well enough. I referenced him in a book club, then the next day I saw the book on my library's circulation desk, and asked if I could check it out. It was going out of circulation so they just gave it to me. Yay. The overall lesson appears to be a meditation on commitment, once you learn to say yes, the tricky part is then learning to say no. There are no interruptions.
Favorite Frankenquote: "He said that the sounds were not sounds but shadows. They are obviously sounds; that's why they are shows; every something is an echo of nothing... The acceptance of death is the source of all life... Not one sound fears the silence that ex-tinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound."
The serious takes are not taken so seriously. There are many somber reflections, as well as a grounded awareness which is refreshing. This too is necessary because his politics were also influenced by the fetish for mass architectural sciences that was so commonplace at the time. This, for me, provides an interesting parallel to current feelings about the prospects of the internet for ameliorating world woes.
Through and through intriguing, if difficultly dense at times. I am in no way educated in music theory but followed well enough. I referenced him in a book club, then the next day I saw the book on my library's circulation desk, and asked if I could check it out. It was going out of circulation so they just gave it to me. Yay. The overall lesson appears to be a meditation on commitment, once you learn to say yes, the tricky part is then learning to say no. There are no interruptions.
Favorite Frankenquote: "He said that the sounds were not sounds but shadows. They are obviously sounds; that's why they are shows; every something is an echo of nothing... The acceptance of death is the source of all life... Not one sound fears the silence that ex-tinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound."
April 14, 2023
This is not just a simple book. It feels like a flow of thoughts, but is it? Mosaics, compositions, essays... I did not knew him, nevertheless John Cage seems like an extremely magnificent person to analyse as well - not only his book. The work is a quick read, but you have to be conscious to get the most out of it. Honestly, I think it suits best for niche audience. I can admit I did not understand everything, but that did not deter me. It is admirable how the author used a probability theory to achieve his aims.
Recommendation for readers: while I was reading I also was listening to John Cage's music and it reminded me of meditation, when mind becomes aware of every sound.
The whole book is refreshing because it provides a vibe that it does not completely belong anywhere.
Recommendation for readers: while I was reading I also was listening to John Cage's music and it reminded me of meditation, when mind becomes aware of every sound.
The whole book is refreshing because it provides a vibe that it does not completely belong anywhere.
April 16, 2009
Cage has an amazing take on sound and hence, on life.
Want to read
December 2, 2009Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 14, as one of Two Books by John Cage.
Currently reading
November 5, 2010He was gifted with a sunny disposition...
May 8, 2012
A collection of Cage's writings and interviews. Cage's writings always make me laugh, even though I skip most of his texts in graphic formats.
March 2, 2024
Набор эссе, историй и просто чего-то странного, напечатанный разными шрифтами, в разных формах, пестрый, плохо понятный, искрящийся гениальностью. Местами экспериментально до абстрактности, местами вполне можно читать как обычную книгу.
Основные темы: технологический прогресс, творчество, сбор и приготовление грибов.
PDF можно найти в гугле по запросу monoskop a year from monday (не знаю, насколько тут можно оставлять ссылки)
Цитаты:
«Once one gets interested in world improvement, there is no stopping.»
«Art, if you want a definition of it, is criminal action. It conforms to no rules. Not even its own. Anyone who experiences a work of art is as guilty as the artist. It is not a question of sharing the guilt. Each one of us gets all of it»
««Donald Malcomb finds the
dangers of lion hunting largely imaginary, those
of mushroom hunting perfectly real.»»
«Effect of videophone on travel? That we'll stay home, settling like gods for impressions we'll give of being everywhere at once?»
«Cards punched for insertion in telephones so we don't have to remember numbers or spend time dialing.»
«Once when I was in Ann Arbor with
Alexander Smith, I said that one of the things
I liked about botany was that it was free of the
jealousies and selfish feelings that plague the arts,
that I would for that reason, if for no other,
given my life to live over again, be a botanist
rather than a musician. He said, "That shows how
little you know about botany." Later in the con-
versation I happened to mention the name of a
mycologist connected with another Midwestern
university. Incisively, Smith said, "Don't mention
that man's name in my house."»
«For each day, I determined by chance operations how many parts of the mosaic I would write and how many words there would be in each. The number of words per day was to equal, or, by the last statement written, to exceed one hundred words.»
«The way these statements are presented is an effect on me of the work of Marshall McLuhan who so dramatically has turned the attention of many to the influences of communication media on sense perceptions, and the work of Marcel Duchamp who just about fifty years ago called attention to the value of things to which value was not ordinarily attached, and who, on another CBC occasion, when he was asked by the interviewer what he was doing, said, "I breathe."»
«Asked the Spanish doctor what she thought about the human mind in a world of computers. said computers are always right but life isn't about being right»
Основные темы: технологический прогресс, творчество, сбор и приготовление грибов.
PDF можно найти в гугле по запросу monoskop a year from monday (не знаю, насколько тут можно оставлять ссылки)
Цитаты:
«Once one gets interested in world improvement, there is no stopping.»
«Art, if you want a definition of it, is criminal action. It conforms to no rules. Not even its own. Anyone who experiences a work of art is as guilty as the artist. It is not a question of sharing the guilt. Each one of us gets all of it»
««Donald Malcomb finds the
dangers of lion hunting largely imaginary, those
of mushroom hunting perfectly real.»»
«Effect of videophone on travel? That we'll stay home, settling like gods for impressions we'll give of being everywhere at once?»
«Cards punched for insertion in telephones so we don't have to remember numbers or spend time dialing.»
«Once when I was in Ann Arbor with
Alexander Smith, I said that one of the things
I liked about botany was that it was free of the
jealousies and selfish feelings that plague the arts,
that I would for that reason, if for no other,
given my life to live over again, be a botanist
rather than a musician. He said, "That shows how
little you know about botany." Later in the con-
versation I happened to mention the name of a
mycologist connected with another Midwestern
university. Incisively, Smith said, "Don't mention
that man's name in my house."»
«For each day, I determined by chance operations how many parts of the mosaic I would write and how many words there would be in each. The number of words per day was to equal, or, by the last statement written, to exceed one hundred words.»
«The way these statements are presented is an effect on me of the work of Marshall McLuhan who so dramatically has turned the attention of many to the influences of communication media on sense perceptions, and the work of Marcel Duchamp who just about fifty years ago called attention to the value of things to which value was not ordinarily attached, and who, on another CBC occasion, when he was asked by the interviewer what he was doing, said, "I breathe."»
«Asked the Spanish doctor what she thought about the human mind in a world of computers. said computers are always right but life isn't about being right»
October 15, 2020
É um livro difícil de acompanhar pra pessoas que, como eu, não tem muito conhecimento da vanguarda do pós-guerra ou de música contemporânea. Mas vale pelas idéias de Cage sobre a incorporar à obra o ruído, o acaso, tudo o que sempre foi considerado não-obra. Isso vale inclusive para a forma como ele escreve, usando o I Ching e outros geradores de padrões para criar as regras dos seus textos. O resultado é que às vezes uma história fica sem começo nem fim, mas o propósito é justamente esse.
Algumas das observações e previsões sobre a sociedade global já antecipam a internet e as redes sociais. Outras são um reflexo ingênuo das teorias de MacLuhan, com uma expectativa de que o avanço tecnológico resolveria por si só os problemas da humanidade.
E pensar que ele só colhia cogumelos para fins culinários!
Algumas das observações e previsões sobre a sociedade global já antecipam a internet e as redes sociais. Outras são um reflexo ingênuo das teorias de MacLuhan, com uma expectativa de que o avanço tecnológico resolveria por si só os problemas da humanidade.
E pensar que ele só colhia cogumelos para fins culinários!
May 26, 2024
I've finished reading this although I'll be going through some of it again before I take it back to the library. I liked especially his talk to Juilliard students. He isn't deliberately difficult to understand but he isn't trying to make it easy on the reader, either. That was a time (mid 1960s) when art was in a contentious and contrary state. Not that that was a bad thing, but it was a little bit exhausting.
April 11, 2020
Finally got to this - having had it on my shelf for absolutely years. As much a headfuck and a treat by the type and design as for the content. Brilliant composer and diarist and thinker and writer.
Read
May 3, 2024A prática de Cage com os sons era linda, mas nessa época ele tava iludido com os potenciais positivos da globalizacão, pra gente que nasceu no Brasil essas utopias soam muito assépticas.
August 26, 2019
Wholesale fustian platitudes. I prefer Cage's letters.
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