In this time: the silent musical work 4’33” was first performed

A sandglass of the composition 4'33” by John Cage

From a series of sandglasses showing "other sorts of time"

John Cage was a leading composer and artist of the 20th century.

John Cage (Wikipedia)

On a day in 1952, Cage held a concert at Woodstock, at which he intended to unveil a new composition. The new work was to be performed by pianist David Tudor.

An enthusiastic audience filled the hall, eager to hear Cage’s latest composition. The lights dimmed, and the pianist appeared on stage.

Sitting down at the piano, he closed the lid (the lids on concert pianos are opened in readiness for the performance), then after four minutes and 33 seconds, returned the lid to its original position, and left the stage.

A silent composition, with no performance: this was Cage’s new work.

Cage’s Woodstock concert sent shockwaves through the musical world, and since then, 4’33” has been covered by many different artists.

So just what was so shocking about Cage’s composition, that reverberates even now?

Confronted with a pianist who simply sat there with the lid closed, the hearing of the people gathered in the concert hall that day must have immediately grown more acute.

The sound of someone coughing discreetly in the silent hall; the faint chirping of birds from outside; the sound of dishes being moved in the foyer; distant car horns, the buzz of bafflement that gradually grew inside the hall.

Cage did not create music, he created the experience of listening.
He expanded sensory perception, without using drugs.

He succeeded in creating an open window on the world already here.

If music is the “enjoyment” of “sound”, then it must center on not just the side making the sound, but the side listening. In fact, really it is listening that is music.
As we savor the sound of rain, music is being created within us.

The frame is made of Japanese walnut, with just the right mingling of subtle hues.

4’33” demonstrated in the most extreme way the essence of the idea that music is all about listening, an idea that still has the power to shake musicians in the 21st century, and those of us who are not musicians.

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In this time: the silent musical work 4’33” was first performed
(August 1952; composed by John Cage)

Sandglass W:85×D:45×H:130mm
Wooden frame: Japanese walnut
Leather sheet 130mm square
Sand: Ironsand

Frame design: monokraft (Toru Shimizu, Ken Katsumata)
monokraft are a pair of furniture makers whose photo frame designs are used for the Living World sandglass series. (The frames are manufactured at a separate workshop)

Price: 11,000 JPY

All prices in Japanese yen.
Please use your favorite currency conversion website to check values in local currency.
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