Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music

John Cage (Composer), David Tudor (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: John Cage, David Tudor
• Audio CD (November 10, 1992)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000001DM2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,544 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The idea behind Indeterminacy was, like many Cagean ideas, essentially simple and audaciously original. Cage read 90 stories, his speed determined by the story's length. In another room, beyond earshot of Cage, David Tudor, pianist and veteran Cage collaborator, performed miscellaneous selections from Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra and played pre-recorded tape from Cage's Fontana Mix. The resulting collaboration is an astounding piece of "music," and a fine introduction to the innovations of John Cage. "A wonderfully curious way to hear stories." - Stereophile

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inventive, amusing, irreverent, thoughtful, provocative, November 19, 1999

By 

Dr. Harry Smallenburg (Burbank, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (Audio CD)

I first heard selections from "Indeterminacy" when I was driving on the freeway. I had to pull off and listen. I'd never heard anything like it. I filed it away in the back of my mind and one day wandered into a record shop in Ontario, Canada, where, what should I see, but "Indeterminacy" on a couple of LPs. When I finally found it on CD, I did the same thing I'd done with the LPs. Bought it immediately. The anecdotes Cage tells seem disarmingly simple and naive, but each one has larger ramifications: about how to listen to music, about how the world works or ought to work, about how music and the world are related, about questioning, etc. That is, about life's largest issues. And they're often very funny, told in Cage's unique dead-pan style--a precursor for many dead-pan narrators since. And David Tudor's background work is equally quirky, witty, surprising and inventive--sometimes punctuating Cage's stories, other times oblivious to the narrative, even smothering it. From the liner notes, Tudor and Cage had no connection to each other--they were working in different studios. Everything that happened in the "accompaniment" was indeterminate.

In short, this is a good collection to introduce yourself to one of America's most original and provocative composer/philosophers.

It always amazes me that the most amazing things, the wittiest, the most thoughtful, are among the least read or listened to items in the Amazon catalog. It's like the ads for movies: the larger the ad, the more you should avoid the film; hunt for the little things.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You don't need to be a fan, December 3, 2005

By 

Jumpingbird "jumpingbird" (Ballarat, VIC Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (Audio CD)

When still a teenager I ordered a copy of this on vinyl from the States. In those days sea mail took three months to get a package from New York to Australia and I had almost given up when I got the postcard in the mail to say my order had arrived. The cost was astronomical, but I've had no regrets.

The stories are marvellous and introduced me to the monks of India and Japan, a passion for mushrooms and spices, Cage's novel approach to music and sound, the customs men in Holland who allowed John Cage to enter the country backwards to avoid paying duty on his cigarettes, and his friend's delight in the 'ardour' of the Russian ballet performance she had just seen.

In the past twenty-five years, the stories have inspired me to see the world and spend nine years in Japan looking for an old iron gate that some movie star in Hollywood would want to buy.

Please listen to the samples and make your own judgement, but be warned you may become obsessed and see the world a little differently afterwards.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speechless., September 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (Audio CD)

I love it!! I thought I could only listen to it once or twice. But it has never left my CD player. The Inside notes are excellent on this CD. This is one of John Cage's best works!! Highly recomended to the Curious. Every fan of John Cage or classical music must own this CD!!!