Anarchic Societies of Sounds

John Cage (1912--1992) is probably best known for§works that challenge the fundamental definition of§music---for example, his groundbreaking 4'33". In the§last six years of his life, however, Cage wrote 48§compositions now known as the Number Pieces---works,§usually scored for conventional Western instruments,§that often contained precisely defined pitches. Each§performer in one of these pieces performs his or her§music in a strict order, but the actual start- and§stop-times for each musical event vary because of §Cage's notational system called "time brackets." §While the time-bracket system ensured that the total §time for a performance would always remain the same, §it allowed sufficient flexibility to the performers §in the spirit of Cage s indeterminate aesthetic---§the brackets made the music became, in his §words, "earthquake proof." This book offers an§overview of the series, an exploration of§sources and compositional process, an analytical§discussion of selected works, a contextual inquiry §into the works with respect to Cage's interests in§American anarchistic traditions, and a concluding§discussion that considers aspects of reception and§historiography.