4′33″ is a modernist composition by American experimental composer John Cage. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments; the score instructs performers not to play their
John Cage in 1988
Sheet music for Allais' Funeral March, containing no musical notes
Page of rests, from the score of Erwin Schulhoff's In Futurum
Daisetz Suzuki, whose approach to Zen Buddhism influenced Cage
Aleatoric music is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer, or both. The t
4′33″
…silence, and silence played a notable role in his prior work, including Sonatas and Interludes. His studies on Zen Buddhism during the late 1940s about chance music led him to acknowledge the value of silence in providing an opportunity to reflect on one's surroundings and psyche. Recent developments in contemporary…
Karlheinz Stockhausen lecturing on Klavierstück XI at Darmstadt, July 1957