Carolina QuotesA sound does not view itself as thought, as ought, as needing another sound for its elucidation, as etc.; it has not time for any consideration--it is occupied with the performance of its characteristics: before it has died away it must have made perfectly exact its frequency, its loudness, its length, its overtone structure, the precise morphology of these and of itself.
John Cage Connected to the Carolinas
Source
1955, quoted in Classic Essays on Twentieth-Century Music
- year
- 1955
Cite this record
“A sound does not view itself as thought, as ought, as needin…” John Cage. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-70A148E197. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/70a148e197
More from John Cage
The composer (organizer of sound) will be faced not only with the entire field of sound but also with the entire field of time. The 'frame' or fraction of a second, following established film technique, will probably be the basic unit in the measurement of time. No rhythm will be beyond the composer's reach.
...WHEREAS, IN THE PAST, THE POINT OF DISAGREEMENT HAS BEEN BETWEEN DISSONANCE AND CONSONANCE, IT WILL BE, IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, BETWEEN NOISE AND SO-CALLED MUSICAL SOUNDS.
Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?