John Cage (Podcast)
Running Time: 01:28:01
Date: May 20, 2010

John Cage was one of the most influential composers in modern American music. He raised fundamental questions about the nature of music, and invigorated, provoked, and perplexed audiences throughout his long career. In this lecture from 1987, excerpts of his work are played and discussed. Afterwards, Cage takes questions and shares his thoughts on subjects ranging from the origins of his impulse to make music-"Many composers hear music before they write it, but I write music in order to hear it"-to using chance to create without ego or intention. He asks why we should listen to music instead of just listening to the sounds around us, and answers: "There's no reason."

Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Art

Keywords: john cage, music, speaking of music,


Speaking of Music Rewind

In celebration of the Exploratorium's 40th Anniversary, we've been combing through our archives and revisiting our rich history. One gem we discovered is the highly regarded Speaking of Music series, which was co-presented by the Exploratorium, Charles Amirkhanian and KPFA radio, and produced by Mr. Amirkhanian from 1983 to 1992. In the series, conversations between Mr. Amirkhanian and prominent musicians and composers took place before a live audience. We are releasing these archived files as a podcast series called "Speaking of Music Rewind." We'll publish one episode a month for the entire 40th anniversary year, concluding in November 2010. For more information about Charles Amirkhanian, please visit the Other Minds website.

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