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Sounds, gamuts, action : Cage’s pluralist universe

This is the second in a series of four articles that attempt to establish a cultural framework for Cage’s philosophy and practice. The first, “Pragmatics of Silence,” was published as chapter in _Silence, Music, Silent Music_ (Ashgate, 2007); the third, “In re: Experimental Music,” appeared in _Contemporary Music Review _31:1 (2012); the fourth, “In re: Experimental Analysis,” is scheduled for publication in _Contemporary Music Review_ in 2014. I choose to submit this item in part because it is also published within a volume which I edited and for which I wrote a Preface.

“Sounds, gamuts, actions” takes up one of the threads from the first article, continuing the argument that Cage’s true philosophical roots are to be found not in the Orient but in American pragmatism. It also scrutinizes the seemingly innocent word “sound,” so pervasive in Cage’s writing. The discussion of Cage’s antecedents is continued in the third of the articles; the analysis of “sounds” and their representation is continued in the fourth.

The whole has been informed not only by scholarly work and analysis but by practice-based research, notably in designing and implementing England’s largest contribution to the Cage centennial, the international festival-conference Getting Nowhere. That event, lasting four days and integrating dozens of performances with commentary, paper sessions, and writing, integrated and informed the research presented in the four papers of which “Sounds, gamuts, actions” is but one part.