Silence

John Cage (1912-1992), one of the most significant experimental composers of the 20th century, applied analogous compositional principles in these texts as he did in the field of music. My intention was often to express what I had to say in a way that made it vivid; this would understandably make it more possible for the listener to grasp what I had to convey than if they were merely hearing about it. The lectures are form-bound, not interested in making statements about something, but in bringing the subject matter itself to presence. This has repeatedly unsettled the listeners. Silence remains one of the central texts of experimental literature.