'A lecture by Cage is a musical event in itself, an encounter with Cage through these writings is an adventure.' Spectator

'John Cage is probably the most influential composer of the mid-twentieth century...But one doesn't need to think of age in the context of history. What matters is that in his autonomous Now, he's a force in our lives which we cannot negate.' The Guardian

The New Grove Dictionary of Music has said of John Cage that he 'had a greater impact on woprld music than any other American composer in the twentieth century', and his musical thinking forms a whole with his writing.

John Cage was born in Los Angeles in 1912. He studied music with Adolf Weiss, Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg, and he has shared ideas with Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro and Max Ernst, as well as such prophets as Marshall McLuhan and Buckminster Fuller.
He was music director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for decades and held a number of academic posts. Cage was a composer, poet, graphic artist, teacher and critic. He died in New York in 1992.

'He is not a composer, he's an inventor - of genius.' Arnold Schoenberg

Bibliography

Empty Words
For the Birds
M: Writings 1967-1972
Silence
A Year from Monday
‘X’ Writings ’79 –’82