4:33;can you play this?

[patteeheeadidas]

There is a song by a famous contemporary composer. He has written a song called 4 minutes and 33 seconds , which is a song that you sit there for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, while playing nothing. He is famous for performing this.  Have you heard about this, and who is the composer?

[bernhard]

John Cage.

There are several threads in the forum dealing with John Cage's music and 4'33''.

Do a search.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[thalberg]

Very famous piece.  Written by John Cage.  It's supposed to pose the philosophical question of "what is music?"  Music becomes the sounds of the concert hall, of the street outside, of people sneezing.  And every time you play it, it's different.  Personally, I found this piece a little too virtuosic for me.  Every time I'd try to play it in public, I kept falling off the bench.

[mound]

I stopped trying when I couldn't apply Bernhard's repeated note group excercise to it.

[mosis]

I stopped trying when I couldn't apply Bernhard's repeated note group excercise to it.

Really? I found that the pianissimo playing of repeated chords was particularly difficult, especially leading up to the climax at 3 minutes.

[mound]

aha! I was trying to play it FFF the whole time!

[Kassaa]

It's bloody difficult not to touch the keys when your sitting for a piano.

[mikeyg]

It's bloody difficult not to touch the keys when your sitting for a piano.

It really is though.  Like, who can't eat a cookie if there is a bag of oreas in front of them?

[Kassaa]

It really is though. Like, who can't eat a cookie if there is a bag of oreas in front of them?

Indeed

[guru_of_time]

you just bust out Rach 3 or something while sitting there lol

[steinwayguy]

I couldn't get it up to tempo in time for my recital.

[pies]

­

[pokeythepenguin]

I had to give it up; the rhythms were too complex and there were just too many voices for me to follow.

[nightmarecinema]

I keep getting lost.

[rob47]

you guys are crappy pianists then, I smoked that piece. 12 CURTAIN CALLS BIATCHES! 

Robbie

[Etude]

Ha, I could play that piece with both hands tied behind my back!   

[c18cont]

I can never figure what to do for warm-ups.............

John

[abell88]

I never managed to memorize it...too embarrassing to play with the score!

[c18cont]