John Cage's Philosophy Of Music

John Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer of the 20th century. During his time, he was known as the father of indeterminism in which he was influenced by Zen Buddhism and Indian philosophy. Music was brought into John’s life by many of his relatives and years of private piano practice. Thanks to his early exposure to music, John had concluded that he wanted to become a writer. Shortly after enrolling in college, he dropped out because he felt that education was the key to being a writer, but traveling would expose him more. In addition, Cage moves to Europe for eighteen months where he was exposed to various arts. When Cage composed his first composition, he as unpleased with it and never finished it.

When he came back to America, he made a living by giving lectures on contemporary art. He had the opportunity to meet some influential people; such as pianist Richard Buhling and art patron Galka Schreyer. Cage was determined to get a

The way he sees music and sound had a major influence on the music industry. His view of music and sound opened the eyes of many writers because they were blinded by sound. Cage made it known that sound was a privilege. According to Cage and Philosophy, “the purpose of this purposeless music would be achieved if people learned to listen; that when they heard they might discover that they preferred the sounds of everyday life to the ones they would presently hear in the musical program” (Carroll, 1994). The way I view sound is different from Cage because of the knowledge we both have on the sound. I feel that someone with a creative mind is able to combine the sound of what we hear every day to that of a musical program. For example, I was to personally view John Cage 4’33 I would be able to make that piece out to be whatever I want it to be. The reason is because the music piece is silent and no actual sound is being