WOOO! Someone just returned the score for John Cage's 4'33"!

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I am on the issude desk for the afternoon, and was quite excited. The question is, WHY THE FUYCK DID THEY TAKE IT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE, LUGNUTS - IT'S NOT HARD TO REMEMBER HOW TO "PLAY" IT?!

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 5 December 2005 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

I've played from that score, and actually it's tricky. You need pretty tight timekeeping and to follow it carefully. Otherwise you might end up playing for only 4 minutes and 32 seconds or something.

― phil jones (interstar), Monday, 5 December 2005 15:06 (nineteen years ago)

I remember making the foolish decision to go see a "percussion tribute to Frank Zappa" a few years back, and the organizer decided to do a percussion performance of "4'33"" as well.

Man, that sucked.

― vartman (novaheat), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

So .. what does the score say in it? Surely it's not a blank piece of paper... Maybe the notation is really interesting? (And is it supposed to be performed in a specific key?)

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:44 (nineteen years ago)

This is going to sound really stupid, but does anyone have an mp3 of this that they can YSI?

Yes, I know, I know...I still would like an mp3 of it for non-listening pleasure purposes.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

So .. what does the score say in it?

I believe it's in three movements:

I.
Tacet.

II.
Tacet.

III.
Tacet.

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

there is/was a video of a performance on ubuweb. check my second post on 4'33'' in my blog.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

btw, I'm amazed how much mileage 4:33 continues to get around here.

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:57 (nineteen years ago)

go sit in the woods in the rain in the country.
be silent for 4'33"

win the game.

― Special Agent Dale Koopa (orion), Monday, 5 December 2005 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

I thought for the first and third movements the lid of the piano was closed, and opened in the second.

― Barnaby (Barnaby), Monday, 5 December 2005 18:07 (nineteen years ago)

There are precisely timed durations for each of the three sections. Somebody online, I forget his name but it's an easy search, has a kind of amazing conspiracy theory reading of the lengths of these durations- he says that their ratio is a covert reference to the spatial dimensions of the Rauschenberg white paintings. Douglas Kahn's "Noise Water Meat" is the text to look at for a great and thorough take on the silent piece (its beginnings, its legacy, its form, basically everything).

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

Please stop referencing 4'33" by John Cage

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:33 (nineteen years ago)

But this is not some snarky namechecking, n/a, people are actually talking about it. Surely there's a difference?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:37 (nineteen years ago)

It's just a related thread for those who might be interested. Just a bit of fun, be cool.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:42 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/PulpHoney.jpg

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:29 (nineteen years ago)

The score is actually really cool, each measure is written out and instructs you to go to different measures and it's all out of sequence if I remember correctly from glancing at it one time.

― Eppy (Eppy), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

There are precisely timed durations for each of the three sections. [...]

The score is actually really cool, each measure is written out [...]

I still think I'm right here.

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 02:56 (nineteen years ago)

(Though it appears from the notes in the score that a written-out version also exists, I must admit.)

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 03:00 (nineteen years ago)

There's a good John Cage documentary that has a video of David Tudor performing it for solo piano.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 03:01 (nineteen years ago)

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