September 5th is the birthday of John Cage, a singular talent who made world-changing contributions to the world of poetry as well as music. To mark the date, we've assembled a group of Cage-related recordings from the PennSound archives for your listening pleasure. It includes everything from Cage's own writings, poetry and performance inspired by Cage, excerpts from conversations and interviews in which poets discuss Cage's influence on their work, and even full-length lectures by noted Cage scholars:
Jerry Rothenberg reads Cage's "Lecture on Nothing" (2:10): MP3
Marjorie Perloff's talk, "Watchman, Spy and Dead Man: Frank O' Hara, Jasper Johns, and John Cage in the Sixties" (1:01:24): MP3
Perloff discusses "The Poetics of Indeterminacy" and John Cage (15:02): MP3
Chris Funkhouser discusses John Cage and Jackson Mac Low's poetry (1:28): MP3
Bruce Andrews discusses John Cage (1:47): MP3
Joan Retallack's lecture, "John Cage's Anarchic Harmony: A Poethical Wager" (55:16): MP3
Danny Snelson discusses Cage's Cartridge Music (5:21): MP3
Anne Waldman reads from "Pieces of an Hour (Dear John Cage...)" (5:45): MP3
Mac Low reads "Phoeneme Dance for John Cage" (5:11): MP3
Mac Low reads six poems written for the occasion of Cage's 79th birthday:
- "A Breather" (1:21): MP3
- "Intention Disappears" (1:47): MP3
- "Rebus Effort Remove Government" (2:32): MP3
- "They Didn't Whir He Gave No Advice" (3:03): MP3
- "This Occasion" (1:34): MP3
- "He Never Relaxed for a Moment" (1:12): MP3
Mac Low reads "Rebus Effort Remove Government" in a later session (2:32): MP3
Mac Low discusses the influence of Cage's chance-composed music and Buddhism (5:50): MP3
Ron Silliman on John Cage's influence (2:57): MP3
M.C. Richards reads "For John Cage on His 75th Birthday" (4:06): MP3
Clark Coolidge reads "For John Cage" (23:08): MP3
Coolidge discusses Cage and his work (4:18): MP3
and finally, don't miss PoemTalk #135, which addresses Cage's "Writing for the Second Time through Finnegans Wake"
