Things Heard
During John Cage's
Folsom Prison
Performance
of "4'33"."
BY CHRIS MONKS, JIM RULAND, MATTHEW SIMMONS, ELIZABETH ELLEN, MELISSA BELL, AARON BURCH, JENSEN WHELAN, STEVE SEIGHMAN,
AND PASHA MALLA
- - - -
"I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die for this?"
"Sure, he's avant-garde, but I'm the avant-guard. Get it?"
"Too bad Quiet got out; he really woulda dug this."
Staff member Jack Lawson's surreptitious tap dancing
"I wonder how long this song will last."
Sodomy (in key of D minor).
"He could certainly shave two minutes off and not compromise any of the piece's élan."
An insensitive boor unwrapping a Mentos.
"If that candy-ass motherfucker doesn't play something soon, I'm going to get up there and stuff the whole piano down his fucking throat."
The gentle weeping of Prisoner 128295, who is moved by the commentary the piece makes on both the ability of the composer to control the way a pianist interprets a musical score, and the way we miss the chance encounters with the music of everyday life. And the quiet gurgling of blood in the throat of the same prisoner, shivved for being a dirty
snitch.
Silent applause.
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