by Peter Gorman

1. Imaginary Landscapes No. 4 (1951) - Written for 12 radios and 24 performers. Cage specified exact tunings and volume levels on each radio, even though he had no idea whether a radio station existed at that tuning. Each performer would turn their radio to the assigned settings. There are 12 more performers than radios in this song; I have no idea what those without radios are doing during the performance, except perhaps asking for a station change.

2. 4'33" (1952) - A musician sits at a piano. For 4 minutes and 33 seconds he does not play a note. Occasionally he turns the pages, as this song has several "movements." Ambient noise drifts in, as it is want to do. Musician rises and bows at end of song. There is a site where this song can be heard in its entirety. It can also be heard by clicking here. Or here. Or by not clicking here. Nor here. (On a personal note, my own admittedly derivative composition 6'57" (1993) was cited by critics as being decidedly overblown in comparison to Cage's work.)

3. 0'00" (1962) - Performer appears on-stage with a cart of vegetables and an electric blender. Performer proceeds to feed the vegetables into the blender to make juice, the noise of the blender being amplified through loudspeakers. Performer drinks the juice. (Sometimes this stuff just writes itself.)

4. 0'00" No. 2 (1968) Two performers play a game (chess, for example), with microphones and amplifiers there to capture all the non-verbal sounds. Ambient noise drifts in, because one just can't keep it out. The performers play on: P-QN3, Q-KB6 (!). Is there any song that can get the feet tapping more swiftly than listening to a few moves of the King's Gambit? I ask you.

5. Sound Anonymously Received (1969) - The entire instructions for this performance are for one whistle to be blown one time, and one time only. (Good seats are still available.) Ambient noise drifts in, thinks better of it, and leaves.

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