In this long-form review of the Town Hall recording, Grunfeld refers to John Cage as “an esoteric composer” interested in the I Ching, which the author reminds his readers is also a favorite of Carl Jung’s. Echoing Cage’s recurring problem with overly “free” and “foolish” and “unprofessional” performers, the reviewer observes that, due to the active role of performers in determining what to play, some responsibility for the result shifts onto their shoulders. Grunfeld also remarks how significant the crowd sounds (cheers and laughter) are in the recording. When discussing the sounds as opposed to the theories, he, like many reviewers, favors Cage’s earlier work, referring to Williams Mix (1951–53) as “a skittish and superficial affair” by comparison with the Orientalizing primitivism of the prepared piano and percussion works.
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| Title | “Cage Without Bars,” The Reporter, 35, 37 |
| Maker | Fred Grunfeld |
| Date | 4 February 1960 |
| Type | press clipping |
| Location | Getty Research Institute, David Tudor Papers, 980039, box 63, folder 1 |
Cite
Grunfeld, Fred. “Cage Without Bars,”
The Reporter, 35, 37, 4 February 1960. Getty
Research Institute, David Tudor Papers, 980039, box
63, folder 1. In
The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music,
Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975, ed. Michael Gallope, Natilee Harren, and John
Hicks. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2025.
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