The other side of silence

Asked by a journalist whether he went to the opera, John Cage replied, ‘No, I listen to the traffic.’ The remark, often quoted, was less sententious than this abbreviated form would imply. Typically Cage, more interested in communicating than teasing despite his reputation as one of the funniest conversationalists, continued with an explanation: ‘I live in the Sixth Avenue area in New York, and there is lots of noise there. That is my music.’

Ever the pioneer, Cage (1912-92) influenced a generation of composers and artists inspired by his experimentalism. Everything he did was new. Most was little understood at the time outside his immediate circle. He used chance, via the I Ching, and electronics. He invited every noise-making thing, nut, bolt, slide whistle, to be an instrument on a par with the violin, at a time when the harness of a doctrinaire and puritanical avant garde was threatening to strangle contemporary music.