Avant-garde (Music)

It has been said that John Cage has had a greater impact on world music than any other American composer in the 20th Century. His work spans the media of visual art, dance, literature, and most relevant to this study, theater. What seemed to be a troubled personal state in his life led him to Eastern philosophies. The Zen philosophy of non-intention led to the creation of music that expressed no emotion and allowed the audience to do its own listening. Moreover, this indeterminacy allowed music to be action. This theatrical approach influenced a generation of artists that became the heart of the anti-art movement. This movement included happenings, multi-media works, and Fluxus. Many of these events were not only a revolt against conventional art, but also the state of political and social thought. In attempting to say nothing in his works, Cage communicated his manifesto quite well.

When John Cage invented the prepared piano in 1940, he created a sound world and body of music unlike anything heard before. The innovative music he wrote for prepared piano requires a completely new approach to performance, and expands our understanding of the piano's capabilities. This study will examine the main prepared piano works by John Cage, with a detailed analysis of the Sonatas and Interludes. Cage's Table of Preparations will be examined to establish an aesthetic rationale for this preparation. Different modes of listening will be explored through a selection of the Sonatas and Interludes recorded in three different technological systems - conventional AB 2.0, surround 5.1, and Disk Jecklin. The latter allows for a true "surround sound" experience as Cage himself might have heard his own pieces. Included is a compact disc of selections from Sonatas and Interludes recorded in each of the three technological systems.

Three original chamber pieces are discussed from numerous points of view. They were composed for string quartet (Escape and String quartet in Four Movements), and string quartet with flute (Forward Motion). Each piece is analyzed in terms of its historical background, compositional techniques, and formal and stylistic techniques. Each piece draws influences from different genres. Escape was influenced by minimalism and jazz and is based on the Locrian scale. Forward Motion is in a modified classical form (Sonata) but draws influences from modern music and employs much dissonance. String quartet in Four Movements combines elements of expressionism, minimalism and jazz. Each piece is discussed in regards to its musical characteristics and historical influences including scales, harmony, rhythmic structure and form.