# John Cage 4'33".... live performance etiquette



## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

If you are attending a live performance of this work are there certain rules and regulations you need to follow. For instance... would you be required to turn off your mobile phone before the performance ? If so then surely this piece is a sham as the sounds you hear are being 'controlled'.... but if not then you have no respect for the peformance and other audience members .... it's a dilemma


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

If you answered your phone during a live recording which was later released would this be an invasion of your privacy if your conversation wasn't edited out..... but then if these 'natural sounds' were removed, how could it be a true 4'33" performance..... it's a dilemma


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

The great thing about a live performance of a John Cage work or works is that you may choose _to attend_ the concert or _not to attend_, and both situations will prove equally valid as far as listening to John Cage goes. You may even enjoy what you hear when you choose _not_ to attend better than what you hear if you _do_ attend the concert. And that would likely please Cage.

But, I remain a Cage fan nonetheless. There's always an adventure to be had with Cage, whether one hears the work or not.


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

Imagine 'choosing to attend or not to attend' being valid..... what utter nonsense is this


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

WhateverDude said:


> Imagine 'choosing to attend or not to attend' being valid..... what utter nonsense is this


It's in the same realm of validity as choosing not to use end punctuation


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

Yes... I realised long ago that 4'33" was nothing more than 'middle class concerns over grammar' and nothing of any importance.


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

SONNET CLV said:


> It's in the same realm of validity as choosing not to use end punctuation


You can imagine sitting there listening to it, needing to fart, and some middle class arty type insisting that 'yes, you must fart, Cage demands it. You must respect the 'realm of validity'


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

SLIGHTLY off topic. Many years ago, one of my 8th grade bands begged me to put 4'33" on our fall concert (we had just watched a video of a full orchestra performance of it). I told them no because they wouldn't take it seriously. They promised they would be completely serious, so I told them we were going to rehearse it several times before the concert and if anyone so much as snickered I'd take it off the program.

They rehearsed it perfectly, performed it perfectly, and the audience talked about it for the rest of the year. After 26 years of teaching, I can say with certainty it was the only time in my life I've had 14 year-old students quiet for that long.


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

Children should be seen and not heard is one thing..... But imagine telling a group of young musicians they must be seen at not heard..... It is the death of art


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I bring my tuba. .


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Live performance etiquette?....Yes, don't fart.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

_4'33"_ uploaded today, it is the most performed avant-garde music today thanks to its greatness no doubt.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

ArtMusic said:


> _4'33"_ uploaded today, it is the most performed avant-garde music today thanks to its greatness no doubt.


Well, it shows that it's better to be silent and be thought a fool than to etc etc etc


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

alan davis said:


> Live performance etiquette?....Yes, don't fart.


But seriously, isn't hearing a natural bodily sound the exact point of this piece. Maybe performances of this MOST IMPORTANT MODERN WORK should be met with such audience participation ALWAYS


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