John Cage - 4'33": Is it Music?

Listening to John Cage’s 4’33”, made me think about the question of what actually can be seen as music and if 4’33” can be considered music. The piece really made think a lot since I also had the time to think about these questions while waiting for it to finally start.

When I started listening to the piece and watching the video, I saw the orchestra as well as the conductor and was really interested in what I might hear in a few seconds. Everything looked really professional which is why I expected to hear something put well together matching the aesthetics. However, I had no idea what kinds of rhythms or melodies to expect. After a while, I began wondering how long the preparation would still take, and my expectations were raising since the preparation took so long. I expected to hear a masterpiece of music and my excitement was getting bigger. At some point, I realized that nothing had happened so far and asked myself whether the orchestra might still play some music or if anything else is going to happen. I felt quite weird watching a whole orchestra doing absolutely nothing and as if this might be a joke or a prank. One question would not leave my head: “Why? Why would anyone do this?”. I just realized that my guess was correct when the audience started to applaud which indicated that the piece was finished. During the whole piece, the orchestra and everyone else kept silent. 

Rewatching the performance, I had different expectations and saw things from a different perspective. I suddenly realized that it is probably its purpose to make people think and activate their minds. This time, as I knew what to expect, I was fascinated by the silence. The orchestra as well as the audience tried their best to stay as silent as possible. The image of an orchestra staying still for several minutes made me imagine what they actually could have done or could have played. Furthermore, I asked myself the questions mentioned at the beginning. Can this be considered music? What actually is music? Since an orchestra as well as a conductor are involved, the piece obviously relates to music, but since no sounds are involved, I cannot hear any music. Of course, silence can be included in music, but in my personal opinion, pure silence cannot be seen as music. However, I see this performance as piece of art which has the purpose to make its listeners think about their own understanding of music. This is why for me, listening to 4’33” several times was definitely beneficial. I saw the whole scene from different perspectives and discovered new, interesting aspects about it every time I rewatched it.