{"id":50596,"date":"2024-12-09T11:30:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T10:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/0363a25a-ed69-4f53-8662-e9afa69f00b2"},"modified":"2024-12-09T12:09:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:09:21","slug":"theres-no-such-thing-as-silence-what-is-the-point-of-john-cages-433","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/theres-no-such-thing-as-silence-what-is-the-point-of-john-cages-433\/","title":{"rendered":"‘There’s no such thing as silence’: What is the point of John Cage’s 4’33”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Published: Monday, 09 December 2024 at 10:30 AM<\/p>

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Igor Stravinsky<\/a><\/strong>‘s wild Rite of Spring<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Karlheinz Stockhausen<\/a><\/strong>‘s logistically challenging Helicopter String Quartet<\/em>, Erik Satie<\/a><\/strong>‘s interminable 18-hour Vexations<\/em>: classical music has had its fair share of controversial and polarising works. Foremost among these, though, is probably by 4’33”<\/em> John Cage<\/a><\/strong>, surely one of music’s most extraordinary creations.<\/p>

Opinions will vary as to whether this is one of the masterpieces of modernism or minimalism in music, or whether it is even music at all. Read on as we delve into the genesis, reception and sheer uniqueness of one of the 20th-century’s most controversial works.<\/p>