[silence] Brophy & Cage

[Cory P. Mathews]

Hello Silencers,

Has anyone seen Philip Brophy's little essay on page 106 of the  
November 2006 issue of The Wire (#273)?  I'm interested in the group's  
reactions.

More importantly, though, I wonder if this may signal the end of  
defending Cage.  Or, might this essay be a call for more critical  
reactions to Cage and his musical/philosophic/aesthetic legacy? (Of  
course, this is not the first critique of Cage--I'm thinking of  
Douglas Kahn's Noise, Water, Meat.) Could it be that the anxiety of  
Cage's influence (in Bloomian terms) is hindering the aesthetic shift  
that will usher in the next big thing in music's history? At this  
historical juncture, might it become necessary for both composers and  
scholars to challenge (read: "think more critically about") Cage in  
order to incite change? (Not that change is desired, better, or even  
"necessary.")  I have to admit, that it was refreshing to read  
Brophy's viewpoint, just because so much writing and scholarship about  
Cage falls under the "apologist" category in my mind. Not, to start a  
big nasty debate here, but I'd like to know if anyone has any  
reactions on this subject.

Cory

ps. Props to the 4 presenters (Hicks, Bernstein, Grimshaw, and  
Haskins) at the first ever all-Cage session at the American  
Musicological Society conference last Friday.  Great stuff guys!

-- 
cory mathews
PhD candidate, musicology
university of california, santa barbara
cmathews@umail.ucsb.edu
http://ucsbmusicgrads.net

Music gives us alternative imaginative geographies for the places we inhabit.
                                                Simon Critchley