Already one friend has e-mailed me, expressing horror at the upcoming BBC broadcast of John Cage’s famous (or is it notorious?) silent piece, 4’33”.
I’m thrilled, then, to see the radiant story linked in ArtsJournal today from the Guardian, the British newspaper, putting Cage in a fuller context. Please read it. Cage was a great man and a great artist. I understand why a lot of people don’t see that — he was very far from the way most of us live and think — but I’ve found that many people who think he’s nonsense don’t know much about him. Here you can read what he was about before you form any opinion.
It’s amazing, by the way, and a delight, that any daily newspaper would take this much care with an offbeat arts story.