Living Room Music
Encyclopedia
Living Room Music is a musical composition by John Cage
, composed in 1940. It is a quartet for unspecified instruments, all of which may be found in a living room of a typical house, hence the title (Pritchett, 1993, 20).
Living Room Music is dedicated to Cage's then-wife Xenia. The work consists of four movements: "To Begin", "Story", "Melody", and "End". Cage instructs the performers to use any household objects or architectural elements as instruments, and gives examples: magazines, cardboard, "largish books", floor, wooden frame of window, etc. The first and the last movements are percussion music for said instruments. In the second movement the performers transform into a speech quartet: the music consists entirely of pieces of Gertrude Stein
's short poem "The World Is Round" (Pritchett, 1998) spoken or sung. The third movement is optional. It includes a melody played by one of the performers on "any suitable instrument."
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, composed in 1940. It is a quartet for unspecified instruments, all of which may be found in a living room of a typical house, hence the title (Pritchett, 1993, 20).
Living Room Music is dedicated to Cage's then-wife Xenia. The work consists of four movements: "To Begin", "Story", "Melody", and "End". Cage instructs the performers to use any household objects or architectural elements as instruments, and gives examples: magazines, cardboard, "largish books", floor, wooden frame of window, etc. The first and the last movements are percussion music for said instruments. In the second movement the performers transform into a speech quartet: the music consists entirely of pieces of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's short poem "The World Is Round" (Pritchett, 1998) spoken or sung. The third movement is optional. It includes a melody played by one of the performers on "any suitable instrument."