The “men and mountains” story has an interesting history that reveals much about John Cage’s relationship to Zen Buddhism. What he presented as a classic Zen saying was actually his own unique variant, one that took it away from its Zen roots.
John Cage’s Zen: men & mountains Read More »
As I prepared a lecture on John Cage and Buddhism, judgments and negative feelings arose because of my own personal history and relationship to Buddhism, and that I need to write about that history.
John Cage, Buddhism, and me Read More »
John Cage often described a drawing that D. T. Suzuki drew of the structure of the mind. I’ve found a possible source for that drawing.
Zen and Cage: Suzuki’s drawing of the mind Read More »
I’ve just posted a new essay on “The origin of John Cage’s Zen” that lays out my case for R. H. Blyth, not D. T. Suzuki, who introduced Cage to Zen. It’s a product of my recent lecture on Zen and John Cage. In preparing that, I took a deeper dive into the Blyth’s work.
R. H. Blyth and Cage’s introduction to Zen Read More »
I recently had the opportunity to deliver a lecture on a subject I’ve been avoiding: Zen and the music of John Cage.
Talking about Zen and John Cage Read More »
I look more closely at Satie’s “Socrate” and Cunningham’s “Second Hand” to see how they relate to the compositional decisions that Cage made in “Cheap imitation.”
Satie, Cunningham, and the meaning of Cage’s Cheap Imitation Read More »
With John Cage’s music and its carefully planned systems, it is easy to get fixated on the mechanics of chance. But with Cage’s Cheap imitation, it’s quite apparent that chance only goes so far. Everything else in the piece was Cage’s musical choice.
Choice and style in Cage’s Cheap Imitation Read More »
With “Cheap Imitation,” Cage gave a very general description of the system used to compose it. A close reading of the piece itself—the actual results of that system—confirms the accuracy of the rules and also uncovers considerations and choices that Cage didn’t mention.
How Cage actually composed Cheap Imitation Read More »
How did John Cage compose Cheap imitation? We are fortunate to have his own explanation of the system right in the front of the score, and I will go through this description in detail and explain my own understanding of it.
What Cage says about Cheap Imitation Read More »
I’ve spent time investigating John Cage’s Cheap imitation. In a new series of posts, I’ll document how he composed it, and also demonstrate how I go about engaging deeply with a piece like this.
Looking deeper into John Cage’s Cheap Imitation Read More »
