Re: cage and gould - enough!

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Fri, 5 Jan 2001, Mary Jo Watts wrote:

> John Cage is a major 20th Century thinker.  Gould took him seriously
> enough.  In the Concert Drop-Out interview GG is asked about Cage and he
> says emphatically that Cage ought to be writing for the radio (which he
> did a time or two)-- a high complement in Gouldian terms.
>
> I see no problem with people discussing Cage on the list (in fact I find
> it amusing and interesting), but please keep the ideas at least related to
> the world of Gould.

For example, we could usefully discuss Gould's essay "The Psychology of
Improvisation" (included in the Reader)...Gould's take on randomness and
unpredictability.

Has anyone here heard or seen the results of Gould's phone interview with
Cage, other than the letters I mentioned last week?

What might Cage and Gould have learned from one another in that encounter?

Or we could talk about the clarity and independence of contrapuntal
strands, a specialty in Gould's interpretations...and compare it with
Cage's "Indeterminacy" (an interesting piece where two performers are
simultaneously working in different rooms, so as not to be influenced by
one another).


Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl  or  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
CD's: http://listen.to/bpl or http://www.mp3.com/bpl

"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot