Re: expanding my library

On 06/24/2011 03:30 AM, Jared Steward wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I thought I'd start with an introduction, since I've been a "lurker" 
> on this for the past year or so. First of all, I'm a little envious of 
> those of you who knew Cage personally, since I actually didn't learn 
> about him until college in the early to mid 90s when it was too late 
> to meet him!  I'm a percussionist and hope to learn as much as I can 
> about John Cage and his circle of friends and associates. As part of 
> that goal, I've started a web "museum" called Cageum, where I'm 
> putting YouTube clips, audio and other things I've found regarding the 
> subject. If you're interested, the link is below.
>
> The reason I really wanted to write, is because I'd like to expand my 
> library regarding Cage and was wondering what suggestions any of you 
> might have as your top choice of books or recordings or videos. I 
> already have "Silence", Carolyn Brown's "Chance and Circumstance", 
> Elliot Caplan's "Cage/Cunningham" DVD and a few CDs. I've been 
> thinking about getting Gann's book about 4'33'', but what would you 
> list as your top 5 or top 10 books/CDs, etc by or about Cage?
>
> Looking forward to your responses!
>
> Jared
>
> website: jared.stewardsweb.net <http://jared.stewardsweb.net/>
> twitter: twitter.com/jaredsteward <http://www.twitter.com/jaredsteward>
> blog: Cageum <http://cageum.stewardsweb.net/>
>



Hi, I would put "Silence" on top of my book list but since you've 
already read it I'll replace it with his "A year from monday". My picks:


1. A year from monday
2. For the birds
3. Conversing with Cage

I'll stop here as I have read very good books in italian on Cage 
(especially "metafisica del silenzio", silence metaphysics) but I cannot 
address them to a non-italian reader. My very first Cage book was 
"Conversing with Cage" anyway. It worked as a perfect intro to Cage. I 
keep on leafing through "For the birds" even if I almost know it by 
heart: Cage conversing with Daniel Charles is simply fascinating.

Speaking of recordings, Europeras 3&4 are among my favorite Cage pieces 
although this is a quite odd statement to make about anything cagean:-) 
Hope this helps, cheers

-- 

Stefano

"When we separate music from
  life what we get is art
  (a compendium of masterpieces)" - John Cage