Talk:Musical composition

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See discussion at Category talk:Musical compositions.

[edit] John Cage complaint

-Anybody else find that statement about Cage generally not being considered a composer completely ridiculous? The pursuit of 'true beauty via music'?? This seems like a weak definition of the goal of composing. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.223.174.120 (talk • contribs) .

Yes it is ridiculous. I'm definitely not a fan of Cage's music, but I still think this article is too unnecessarily hard on his techniques. In particular, the whole article seems to be slanted to more Western "traditional" values, such as the mentioned "craft of musical composition" that Cage is purported not to follow. What exactly is this craft? Does it not include experimental and aleatoric music? I'm removing those statements about Cage that follow unstable slants. I understand if some believe that stuff about Cage, but c'mon folks, this doesn't need to be in an encyclopedia. (And note that just because only a "few" of his works contain this "craft of musical composition" doesn't mean Cage is not a composer...) Horncomposer 19:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

It has been removed. Good work. Hyacinth 20:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I didn't get a chance to read the original comments regarding John Cage, but the fact remains that the word composition means to "sit with" or to put together. In several of his works, the musical content is not defined. A piece that can theoretically be performed as Beethoven's 5th Symphony, or a Lutaslowski piece, or just scraping sounds, can not be said to be 'composed'. While Cage's point that all music differs from one performance to another is certainly true, the amount of deviation must be taken into account. This has nothing to do with experimental, or even introducing aleatorical elements into a work. You can throw dice to determine the notes, but if every performance reqires the procedure to be redone, there never was a composition. And why not include this discussion in an encyclopedia? Where else will the general public get exposed to the fundamental concepts of contemporary music? Part of the reason audiences are estranged is due to the the complexity, and diverse methods of generating music. Clarifying the "composers" intentions will allow the public to come to a better understanding and appreciation of contemporary music.