Silencing the Sounded Self: John Cage and the American Experimental Tradition

Christopher Shultis has observed an intriguing contrast between John Cages affinity for Thoreau and fellow composer Charles Ivess connection with Emerson. Although both Thoreau and Emerson have been called transcendentalists, they held different views about the relationship between nature and humanity and about the artists role in creativity. Shultis explores the artists sounded or silenced selvesthe self that takes control of the creative experience versus the one that seeks to coexist with itand shows how recognizing this distinction allows a better understanding of Cage. He then extends the contrasts between Emerson and Thoreau to distinctions between objective and projective verse. Having placed Cage in this experimental tradition of music, poetry, and literature, Shultis offers provocative interpretations of Cages aesthetic views, especially as they concern the issue of non-intention, and addresses some of his most path-breaking music as well as several experimentally innovative written works.