Performance based on the Music Division's manuscript collection, including the works of Antheil and Cage.
George Antheil (July 8, 1900, Trenton, New Jersey – February 12, 1959, New York City) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with its cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices. Returning permanently to the US in the 1930s, he turned to writing film-scores in Hollywood and his various compositions for the concert hall, the ballet and films became more tonal. A man of wide interests, Antheil researched female endocrinology, wrote a mystery novel and newspaper advice and music columns, and with the actress Hedy Lamarr patented a frequency-hopping torpedo guidance system.
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.
Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played.
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