4′33″

4′33″, musical composition by John Cage created in 1952 and first performed on August 29 of that year. It quickly became one of the most controversial musical works of the 20th century because it consisted of silence or, more precisely, ambient sound—what Cage called “the absence of intended sounds.”

Cage conceived the piece in 1948, when he gave it the working title “Silent Prayer.” The work’s manuscript declared that it was written “for any instrument or combination of instruments.” It then specified that there were three movements of set duration—33 seconds, 2 minutes 40 seconds, and 1 minute 20 seconds, respectively. For each movement, Cage’s sole instruction to the performer(s) was “Tacet” (Latin: “[it] is silent,” used in music to indicate that the musician is not to play). For the first performance of 4′33″, pianist David Tudor used a stopwatch, opening or closing the keyboard lid at the designated intervals. Although most audience members at first had no idea what to make of Cage’s composition—and, indeed, some left in a huff—it gradually became clear to the discerning that the work was intended to help the audience discover the impossibility of actual silence in life. Coughing audience members, squeaking seats, even departing footsteps became part of the unusual composition.

In March 2011 the music magazine Gramophone, in a playful homage to this work, published a review of a 21st-century recording by rock musicians of 4′33″ on the CD Cage Against the Machine (the title is a play on the name of the alternative rock group Rage Against the Machine, some members of which participated in the performance). The review identified the disc’s features in a standard way, then ran a six-inch column devoid of type.