Music written by a charlatan

[bernie1227]

Being an important figure during a certain period does not prove that someone was an important artist. Kalkbrenner (romantic era) was highly esteemed in his days, but it's obvious now that he is nothing compared to Chopin, Schumann, and others.

in my opinion, the fact that someone came along better than them, does not make them a lesser artist. Let's take the principle of an ice cream cone. Imagine you make an Icecream cone that is really good and for some strange reason, it is declared the best Icecream in the world by the royal academy of Icecream in London. If then, someone else, say your arch nemesis from childhood makes a better Icecream cone, and the academy of Icecream declares his Icecream is the best. The fact that his is better than yours does not effect the quality of your Icecream whatsoever, and if you were a genius of Icecream making before, you are still a genius.

[molendijk]

in my opinion, the fact that someone came along better than them, does not make them a lesser artist. Let's take the principle of an ice cream cone. Imagine you make an Icecream cone that is really good and for some strange reason, it is declared the best Icecream in the world by the royal academy of Icecream in London. If then, someone else, say your arch nemesis from childhood makes a better Icecream cone, and the academy of Icecream declares his Icecream is the best. The fact that his is better than yours does not effect the quality of your Icecream whatsoever, and if you were a genius of Icecream making before, you are still a genius.

Bernie, I was just indicating that being an important figure in earlier avant-garde music doesn't necessarily imply that someone is a talented composer. And it may very well be that the judgment made by the Royal Academy of Icecream is based on just trendy opinions.
Arie.

[jscheuer1]

I don't claim to have knowledge of Cage and whatever his era/genre was/is all about, and therefore have no fully formed opinion on him.

But it stands to reason that Cage was and still is a lightning rod of sorts. That certainly has nothing to do with his skill or lack thereof as as a composer.

I think it makes him an important figure, who was and/or is influential in his area.

Now I do have some knowledge and a firm opinion on this 'negative space as art' and 'let the piece do what it wants to do' concepts. Both of which seem to be involved here. And each of which is different from the other. From my point of view the first has relative merits and only becomes something in context. The latter is part of the artistic process. It's a letting go. It has nothing to do with the artist's abilities. It's only one of many possible non-exclusive approaches the artist may take to a given work.

[bernie1227]

Bernie, I was just indicating that being an important figure in earlier avant-garde music doesn't necessarily imply that someone is a talented composer. And it may very well be that the judgment made by the Royal Academy of Icecream is based on just trendy opinions.
Arie.

The point I am making here however, that in this case, it does make Cage a good Icecream maker.

[jscheuer1]

The point I am making here however, that in this case, it does make Cage a good Icecream maker.

Yum! Let's eat!