[Finale] Re: [OT] 4'33: can anyone confirm that it isn't [only] music?

[jef chippewa]

it has been argued that the fact that there is a specific [non-] visual/movement element for the piece means that it is theatre, dance, or performance art in some way.

4'33 [1952] is a work composed in three movements, to be "performed by any instrumentalist(s)" [intro notes in score], with no description of set and props design, costumes, lighting, movement [or non-movement], or stage directions for the performer, which makes it difficult to declare the piece to be dance, theatre or performance art [even samuel beckett's 35" theatre piece with no actors, breath, has set and props design]. however, a document with the performance instructions detailling duration [specific for the entire work, non-specific for the individual movements] and instrumentation [variable, open] is available as a _musical score_ through peter's edition.

the most essential intention of 4'33 clearly lies in the realm of sound/music, although it is certainly not without interest to consider the piece in relation to other contexts: dance = non-movement?; theatre = non-action?; performance art = non-intention?... appreciation of the "total identity" of any work of art, no matter what the primary or initial medium, may only be possible through consideration of the work from various perspectives, including perspectives with which the viewer/listener [and possibly the composer as well!] is unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. of course the idea that one might somehow be able to "understand" the "total identity" of any work of art is naively utopic at best, ignorantly reductionist at worst.

many claims about the place of 4'33 in theatre, performance art or dance have been made [primarily (exclusively!?) by musicians]; i would be interested in hearing from these people exactly how they feel the work relates to the traditions and history of these other mediums.

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a small group of performers constructs a sculpture of various materials chosen for their individual sonic characteristics or potential. 150-175 individual actions are composed according to the specific sounds they will create, or the effect that the articulation of a particular action might have on the sonic texture at any given moment. the sculpture is destroyed live by the performers articulating these actions in aleatoric succession.

is the resulting de-formance to be considered [dada?] sculpture, theatre, environmental art, social commentary on the disposible nature of much art today, or philosophising on the fragile and ephemeral nature of art, regardless of the fact that the composer actually composed it as chamber music [a sound composition involving 3-5 intimately-interacting performers]?

the identity of such pieces as 4'33 and the sculpture de-formance may occupy a larger field than the medium for which it was initially conceived, but may be more effective or more readily realisable in one or another medium. as i previously mentioned, 4'33 would not be terribly innovative or provocative in the realm of performance art.

cheers,
jef

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.jef.chippewa.
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.shirling.&.neueweise.
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