And yeah...Cage's ideas were pretty controversial. I watched a documentary about Cage a while back that was really amazing. Sometimes it's a fine line between genius and well...not genius. I think he's the first one...
Well... take Cage's most famous "crackpot" composition, 4'33" where the pianist comes on stage, sits at the piano and doesn't play a note. Understandably lots of people thought this was idiotic. Not much sense in making a recording of this, but lots have been done. Actually one recording was done outdoors, you can hear birds, wind in the trees and a church bell in the distance. Robin Williamson (do you remember Incredible String Band?) once sang about "the music that nests in birdsong, insinuates in river babble, sings in the soft south wind." This is what Cage was getting at. The sound around you all the time is music.
Hey, that's a damn good performance of Winnsboro, that kid is intense. Rzewski"s masterpiece is "The People United Will Never Be Defeated"... an hour of variations on a Chilean revolutionary anthem. Bits and pieces on youtube.
Getting back to the simple yet haunting, just found this one. Fred Frith and Evelyn Glennie (wouldn't it be really tough being a deaf musician?) Fred's coming to my town in a couple weeks, I'll be there.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yhgOZlRvZXs
