Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”

John Cage (1912–1992) composed “like he didn’t know what no meant,” pushing boundaries with his inventive musical style, but for his “most important” piece, 4’33”, Cage composed “nothing.” Hoping audience members would “hear how much something there was in nothing,” Cage arranged for a pianist to sit, without playing, in a quiet concert hall for four minutes and 33 seconds, “letting the audience hear what was inside the silence.” While the first audience felt tricked, the piece slowly became an oft-performed classic “written by the listener.... And that listener can be you.” Repeatedly commenting on the size of Cage’s ears while weaving a survey of the figure’s life and career into the description of 4’33”, Day’s text uses a choppy, repetitive sentence structure to drive the book’s rhythm. Raschka’s broad watercolor strokes create bold shapes, pops of color, and disproportionate figures that add a playful undercurrent to the discussion of Cage’s avant-garde work. A biographical note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)