Old Guard and Avant-garde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Old Guard and Avant-garde - Essay Example This essay discusses that John Cage professed radicalism in his compositions through his early years. John Cage had several interests in his pursuit of artistic life. For instance, it is worthy to note that Cage enrolled in a creative writing institution. He later drops out of the same while explaining that the institution utilized few texts in writing. The incident of the creative writing institution was a manifestation of someone who easily got dissatisfied with repeating others’ ideas. At the same time, he respected their creations. In addition, Cage began piano lessons in his childhood days while never declaring that he possessed an interest in the same. Such an early disinterest might have expressed later as an exceptional creativity in his works. Cage even tried his brains on Greek architecture until he got bored of the same. Despite Cage’s new concepts, he had earlier influences that triggered his interest in composition. During his stay in Europe, he had an infl uence from John Sebastian and Igor Stravinsky. Cage’s universal appeal in his compositions might have been derived from his traveling experiences. His other interests included painting and theater. His most relevant moments of his genius are explicit in his study period with Schoenberg. Schoenberg later described Cage as an inventor rather than a composer. Cage’s life is evident of adventure that goes beyond music. In this article, it is vital to highlight his musical experiments. Cage defined everything as music. This illustrates the use of silence. (Bernstein & Hatch, 2001). This illustrates by the use of silence to create the 4.33 composition. In this composition, he requires the listener to listen to sound of the background. Cage commenced experiments by employing different equipments as musical instruments. He used domestic items such as spoons, plates and sheets (Nicholls, 2002). He later taught and continued exploring, on non-musical objects, to enhance composit ions. The flow is a piano sound. It is void of the pressure of earlier compositions as it oozes out. John Cage displays his experimentation skills by utilizing single instruments for whole compositions. The composition of sonatas and interludes provides a unique articulation. It entails four sonatas that precede one interlude. The pattern repeats itself with four sonatas and one interlude. This follows a pattern of mirroring effect. It composes of a ten-unit structure that exists in the proportion of 3-2-2-2. An example is sonata-four that gives a measurement of one hundred. Cage employs the instruments to fit in the overall structure rather than the microstructure (Nicholls, 2002). This displays a new structure that Cage tries to infuse into a composition. Previous compositions entailed the same that strived to engage musical