source file: mills2.txt Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 20:18:04 -0800 Subject: no pudding From: Will Grant I've left a couple of Cage performances because I was bored. That does _NOT_ mean I think Cage is boring. It means the performances in question were boring to me. Cage is all about communication. Often, communication is the _ONLY_ thing that exists in his work. When performing "Silence," for example, the mentality and concentration of the performer make a difference between an audience finding it intriguing or stupid. Jonathan said: << One of the key tenets of improvisation ... would seem to be that the players actually *listen* to each other.... [M]ost of the playing could ... have been these same people at home, alone in their rooms.... No flow, no interaction, no marvelous concordances (or discords) - just someone meditatively whonking and stroking a big hunk of metal, accompanied by a gradually evolving sound-field. A thought: John Cage might have been proud. >> This seems harsh to Cage, who would probably have been bored, too, if you were. I think he liked pudding just as much as the next guy. But I agree with what Jonathan seems to be saying: There's no point to a concert if there's no pudding. Will Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sun, 15 Dec 1996 07:12 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA04060; Sun, 15 Dec 1996 07:15:05 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA04458 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id WAA06295; Sat, 14 Dec 1996 22:14:46 -0800 Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 22:14:46 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu