John Cage in the mid 1970s

Researcher: Anthony Gritten

This project focuses on the work produced by John Cage in the mid 1970s which utilises natural materials, including plants, shells and water. The research is guided by a desire to explore some of the contexts, debates and investments that were made by Cage and those in his circle, during a period which saw Cage turn from theatrical events to ecological concern and from there (back) to musical objects. The output of this project comprises an ongoing series of articles about Cage in relation to topics in performance practice, performance studies, ecology, organology, indeterminacy, folk psychology and global music history.

OUTPUTS

In Progress

Gritten, Anthony. “Discipline and Decay in Experimental Music Performance”. Proposal submitted for special issue ‘On Music’ of Performance Research no. 30/1 (2025) [under review].

Gritten, Anthony. “Displacing Performance Mastery with Ecological Tools.” In The Routledge Companion to Performance and Science edited by Adele Senior, Paul Johnson and Simon Parry. Routledge, 2025. [revised, in press]

Published

Gritten, Anthony. “Tarrying with John Cage’s Plant Pieces.” In Gadamer, Music, and Philosophical Hermeneutics edited by Sam McAuliffe. Springer, 2024.

Gritten, Anthony. “Transformed Strangely: Lyotardian Indeterminacy in Cage’s Child of Tree.” Leonardo no. 56/1 (Feb 2023): 45-49.

Gritten, Anthony. “Does the Performer have to Listen?” Music + Practice 6 online (2020): 20 pages.

Gritten, Anthony. “26 Mesostics Re and not Re John Cage.” In The Routledge Companion to Performance Philosophy edited by Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca and Alice Lagaay. Routledge, 2020.

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