Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”

This history introduces John Cage’s 4’33”, a composition in which pianist David Tudor sat at a piano in a concert hall in 1952 without playing notes for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The account asks what can be heard when a performance appears silent: audience members shifting or clearing their throats, rain, and wind in the trees. It follows the unsettled response of the first audience and the work’s later performances, exploring Cage’s attention to the sounds surrounding silence.