4'33" [Import]

Edgard Varese (Composer), Carlos [1] Chavez (Composer), John [1] Cage (Composer), John / Harrison, Lou Cage (Composer), Amadinda Percussion Group (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Amadinda Percussion Group
• Composer: Edgard Varese, Carlos [1] Chavez, John [1] Cage, John / Harrison, Lou Cage
• Audio CD (December 8, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hungaroton
• ASIN: B000003070
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,498 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ionisation, for 13 percussionists

2. Toccata for orchestra

3. 4'33', for any ensemble or number of players

4. Double Music for percussion quartet

5. Amores, for prepared piano & 3 percussion: No. 1, Solo for Prepared Piano

6. Amores, for prepared piano & 3 percussion: No. 2, Trio (9 tom-toms, pod rattle)

7. Amores, for prepared piano & 3 percussion: No. 3, Trio (7 woodblocks, not Chinese, Waltz from: Trio of 1936)

8. Amores, for prepared piano & 3 percussion: No. 4, Solo for Prepared Piano

9. Third Construction, for 4 percussionists

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extrovert & Glorious, July 4, 2005

By 

Henry Clayton (New Orleans, La. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 4'33" (Audio CD)

All of the pieces on this disc are excellent, but I wish to call your attention specially to the title piece. I have in my collection most of the extant recordings of 4'33", & have admired most of them, but without doubt this is the most splendid recording available at the present day. The Amadinda Percussion Group is in top form throughout, bringing a sensitivity & brio to the piece that have rarely been approached. The tempi are a bit faster than I am accustomed to, but I found this a welcome change, & if anything, truer to Cage's intentions. The sound quality is first-rate: every nuance is finely chiselled, dynamics are tracked with absolute fidelity. I should note that audience noise is somewhat pronounced, but it really presents no obstacle to enjoyment of this magnificent rendition of 4'33".

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sounds of 'silence', December 14, 2005

By 

Joseph Sannicandro (HARRISON, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 4'33" (Audio CD)

" I should note that audience noise is somewhat pronounced, but it really presents no obstacle to enjoyment of this magnificent rendition of 4'33". " that was just too funny not to write my own review.

Cage is probably one of the most important of the American avant-garde composers, and is most notorious for this piece, 4'33", in which no noise in delibritly made. "There is no such thing as silence. Something is always happening that makes a sound." It is these unintentioned sounds, especially of the crowd, that is to be regarded as the music of the piece. Cage is infamous for having asked the question, what is music? 4'33" in particular is meant to challenge the conventional definition of music.

He also described his music as being purpossless play, an extention of his Zen Buddhist beleifs. "this play is an affirmation of life-not an attempt to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we are living, which is so excellent once one gets one's mind and desires out the way and lets it act of its own accord."

not for everyone of course, this cd is a good mix of cage's work, certainly a visionary composer whose legacy will last.

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Bucks for Three Tracks - Can't Be Beat, April 1, 2010

By 

Hissyspit (Raeford, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 4'33'' (MP3 Download)

I like to listen this work while gazing at the Yves Klein painting I bought at the Iris Clert Gallery in 1958.