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Each...is at the center': Thoughts on a Cagean view of [music] history

Each...is at the center': Thoughts on a Cagean view of [music] history
Each...is at the center': Thoughts on a Cagean view of [music] history
Traditional historiographical practices deal almost exclusively with prospective chains of
influence, prioritizing the canonic over the non-canonic, and the influence flowing from
an individual over the influences flowing toward her or him. Similarly, historical preeminence
is valued more than historical accuracy. Although John Cage’s view of history
originally chimed with these traditional practices, from the 1940s onward he increasingly
came to dismiss teleological historiography in favor of an alternative view that might be
characterized as ‘centrality.’ This essay examines Cage’s journey from traditional to
alternative historiographic practices, focusing in particular on a passage in ‘Communication,’
the third of his 1958 Darmstadt lectures, and reflects on the challenges created
by a historiography based in centrality.
0749-4467
91-109
Nicholls, David
03b203c2-f929-441a-88b7-8af9d5211270
Nicholls, David
03b203c2-f929-441a-88b7-8af9d5211270

Nicholls, David (2012) Each...is at the center': Thoughts on a Cagean view of [music] history. Contemporary Music Review, 31 (1), 91-109. (Submitted)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Traditional historiographical practices deal almost exclusively with prospective chains of
influence, prioritizing the canonic over the non-canonic, and the influence flowing from
an individual over the influences flowing toward her or him. Similarly, historical preeminence
is valued more than historical accuracy. Although John Cage’s view of history
originally chimed with these traditional practices, from the 1940s onward he increasingly
came to dismiss teleological historiography in favor of an alternative view that might be
characterized as ‘centrality.’ This essay examines Cage’s journey from traditional to
alternative historiographic practices, focusing in particular on a passage in ‘Communication,’
the third of his 1958 Darmstadt lectures, and reflects on the challenges created
by a historiography based in centrality.

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Submitted date: 2012

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 153511
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/153511
ISSN: 0749-4467
PURE UUID: a6b5ff3f-ed9c-4c68-8250-442a301d13c8

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Date deposited: 28 May 2010 14:21
Last modified: 07 Jan 2022 23:48

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Contributors

Author: David Nicholls

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