20thCenturyChance

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20th Century Theory

ALEATORY MUSIC

Indeterminacy

Chance/Choice

Fancy term for “randomness” - the opposite of serialism nA way of taking your ego out of the loop nGet past your preconceived notions nCreating surprise nCreating juxtapositions that can create new meaning for you nCould you draw a random line? nA way of automating decisions you don’t want to make nA way of automating decisions you can’t make nInteractive art – the artist isn’t there to make the decisions
John Cage – American (1912 - 1992) Cage wanted people to listen to silence around them with the attitude they bring to a concert nListening is an active process of making meaning nWe can find rhythms in the sound of someone speaking nOr hear harmony in a power drill nCage believed these could be just as musical as a symphony Prepared piano Sonata V: John Cage	John Cage on Silence 4'33" Ligeti Poeme Symphonique for 100 Metronomes Imaginary Landscape No. 1 Chance PowerPoint Prepared piano (a grand piano with objects inserted between some strings)
nSilence isn’t silent nIt’s filled with sound nPeople walking down the hall nThe vibration of the HVAC units nPeople giggling nPeople shifting uncomfortably in their chairs nAll of these can be heard as music nIf you don’t believe me nTry sampling it and giving it to a DJ	Graphical Scores Graphical notation Timeline (flash) Xenakis - Metastasis (spectral view)

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