From his earliest days as a college student, John Cage was known as a charismatic speaker. After turning to chance procedures and indeterminate notations in the 1950s, Cage’s music could sound austere and inaccessible; in this context, spoken lectures helped audiences connect with the philosophical complexity and playfulness of his compositional process—without, however, fully explaining that process. With 45′ for a Speaker (1954), Cage first realized his ideal lecture practice, which would, in his words, “permit the audience to experience what I had to say rather than just hear about it.” Cage used chance procedures to determine many of its elements, from the subject matter discussed and quotations selected, to how fast or loud to read, and even when to cough or “lean on elbow.” The result is a peculiarly intense amalgamation of philosophical propositions, program note–like discussions of avant-garde techniques, ordinary gestures, and—of course—silences.
45′ for a Speaker can be found in the Getty Research Institute’s unique copy of An Anthology of Chance Operations (1962), published by Jackson Mac Low and George Maciunas and edited by La Monte Young.
45′ for a Speaker by John Cage © 1954 by John Cage. Permission by C.F. Peters Corporation. All rights reserved.
