4’33 - 100% Audience participation 

I had never heard of John Cage or 4’33 outside of the seminar and had no expectations when “listening“ to the piece for the first time. Confusion was my first reaction after waiting for four minutes and 33 seconds for the orchestra to finally start playing the noises that are so typical of avant-garde music. My anticipation throughout the process made me deaf to all the coughs, whispers and noises that are essential to the 4’33-experience. My initial thought was that this piece must have been incorporated to the concert as some sort of joke or was something that only connoisseurs and musical geniuses would come to appreciate (or at least they’d pretend like they got something out of the experience). It was only afterwards that I understood how revolutionary and unique 4’33 by Cage actually is. Something that makes experimental music like this so interesting are the very real and sometimes almost banal motifs that the composers choose to depict. They use music to e.g. portray the hustle and bustle during New York rush hour, noises in a park at night, or like here, the sounds that an (in the best case) unsuspecting audience makes, when nervously anticipating a grand concert. 
I realized how limited my understanding of music is. I’d listen to intense songs to reach a new personal best, upbeat tunes when feeling good about myself and my sad emotional playlist when sitting on the train at night. There always is the perfect song or genre for any situation imaginable. But experiencing 4’33 made me realize how boundless music actually is. Any real situation or image can be portrayed and interpreted using music and sounds. What also fascinated me about this piece is that there never was, and probably never will be identical implementations of this piece. It does not matter whether you already know what to expect or not, the sounds that are made during each performance of 4’33 will be unique and completely dependent on the audience.