August 12, 1992, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Spouse
Xenia Andreyevna Kashevaroff
Fact
Once performed one of his pieces on "I've Got a Secret," using among other items a grand piano, a duck call, a toaster, a transistor radio, and a bathtub.
John Cage was born on September 5, 1912, in Los Angeles, California. His parents, John and Lucretia Cage, were both teachers. He had two brothers, Richard and David. Cage was educated at Los Angeles High School and Pomona College. He began his career as a musician, playing the piano and percussion in various bands.
He soon began to experiment with new ways of making music, using everyday objects as instruments. In the 1940s, he began to develop his own unique style of composition, which he called “chance music. ” This style involved using random procedures to determine the structure and content of a piece of music. Cage’s best-known work, 4’33”, is a three-movement composition in which the performer does not play a single note.
The work is meant to be a “silent” composition, with the audience making its own noise. Cage was also a prolific writer, and his writings on music and art have been widely influential. He died on August 12, 1992, in New York City. ..
General Info
Full Name
John Cage
Died
August 12, 1992, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Profession
Actor, Author, Philosopher, Film Score Composer, Visual Artist
Education
The New School, Pomona College, Los Angeles High School, University of California, Los Angeles
Nationality
American
Family
Spouse
Xenia Andreyevna Kashevaroff
Parents
Lucretia "Crete" Harvey, John Milton Cage, Sr.
Accomplishments
Awards
Grammy Trustees Award, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada, Independent Music Award for Best Design - Best Album Art
Movies
Dreams That Money Can Buy, At Land, Poetry in Motion, À travers la forêt, Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance, John Cage: One 11 with 103, Inside Dope, Sonic Acts: From Stockhausen to Squarepusher, Merce Cunningham, A Legacy of Dance, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: A Portrait of David Toop ...
I do the cooking, and Merce does the dishes. [in 1989, when asked publicly for the first time about the "nature of his relationship" with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also his frequent professional collaborator.
Facts
#
Fact
1
Inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1982.
2
Life partner of dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham for fifty years, from 1942 until Cage's death in 1992.
3
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 89-91. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
4
Once performed one of his pieces on "I've Got a Secret," using among other items a grand piano, a duck call, a toaster, a transistor radio, and a bathtub.
5
His most (in)famous composition was 4' 33", consisting of musicans seated in front of their instruments without touching them for three movements, totaling four minutes and thirty three seconds. The sheet music simply reads "TACIT" (silent) for each movement.
6
Did scholarly research into the science of fungology (the study of mushrooms and other fungi).
Movies
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Before the Last Drop
2014
Documentary
Surrounded
2013
Documentary short
John Cage's Musicircus
2012
Documentary short
Novembre
2010
Documentary
Um Filme Sem História
2002
Short
John Cage: From Zero
1995
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
1993
Documentary
End of the Art World
1971
Documentary short
Works of Calder
1950
Documentary
Horror Dream
1948
Short
Dreams That Money Can Buy
1947
segment "Discs"
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gerhard Richter - Painting
2011
Documentary writer: "Music for Marcel Duchamp"
Harald Schmidt
2010
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Shutter Island
2010
writer: "MUSIC FOR MARCEL DUCHAMP" 1947, "ROOT OF AN UNFOCUS" 1944
You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story
2005
Documentary "Six Short Inventions for Seven Instruments" 1934
