Home > Letters to CR

James C. Langdell on The New Seth Interview and John Cage’s Indeterminacy
posted June 7, 2009
 

I enjoyed today's (6/7/09) long interview with Seth. In case anyone wasn't familiar with what he meant about John Cage's Indeterminacy, here's a web page with a good sampling of the stories Cage would tell:

http://www.lcdf.org/indeterminacy/

One way he'd perform the stories was to read each so it would take exactly a minute. In other performances, he would apply other randomly determined factors (such as amplification level or other degree of other electronic processing) to how each story was read.

The stories Cage tells have a charm and interest that might surprise those who are unfamiliar with this side of the composer.

By the way, Tom, I enjoy the array of illustrations you insert in the interviews you publish, including the "kicker" artwork you usually include following the interview and the credits.