Aspects of Zen Buddhism as an Analytical Context for John Cage's Chance Music
Rob Haskins · Contemporary Music Review · 2014
The writings of Cage's acknowledged mentor in Zen Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki, reveal a more complex picture of Zen than Cage himself tended to describe. This essay considers several of these writings in order to articulate an approach to listening and analysis based in Zen, which is then used to explore two compositions with very different sonic profiles, Music for Piano 21 (1955) and One5 (1990). My findings suggest a wide range of audible relationships in Cage's music as well as an ethical dimension to analysis related to Joan Retallack's concept of poethics.