Asia vs. Cage

[ibanezmonster]

Following this logic .. I don't like George W. Bush, or McDonalds. However, still .. historically important and influential. etc.

Yes, exactly.

[Cato]

From Asia's Piano Concerto:

http://www.youtube.com/v/77jIRJz2hM0

versus

Cage's Concerto for Prepared Piano

http://www.youtube.com/v/ms70jqdZHzs

So any opinions on the above contrasting comparison?

Certainly Mr. Asia's idiom seems not to be experimental or (from the few things I have heard, like the Symphony #3) ground-breaking, but not every work needs to be so.

[Karl Henning]

Quite a fine publicity stunt Mr. Asia has pulled here.

Word.

[Karl Henning]

Yea, honestly .. your posts on this read like that, regurgitating stuff from 'out there' with very little introspective critical or inquisitive thought [...]

Lord, but that's funny! And no apparent sense of irony!

[petrarch]

Lord, but that's funny! And no apparent sense of irony!

I wanted someone else to point that out so, thanks!

[kishnevi]

So any opinions on the above contrasting comparison?

Certainly Mr. Asia's idiom seems not to be experimental or (from the few things I have heard, like the Symphony #3) ground-breaking, but not every work needs to be so.

Having listened to both:  the Cage leaves me feeling like I've been listening to a long sequence of random noises.   I suppose that's part of the method with Cage, but if I wanted to listen to a long sequence of random noise, I could go bang on my pots and pans for equal satisfaction.  (Don't have a toddler in the house, so I would need to do it myself.)  And I have a mild headache midway through it.

The Asia--I don't know if I would want to listen to it again (that is, go out of my way to see it or pay money for a recording) but I certainly don't regret the time spent listening to it now.  And no signs of a headache.  (And thank you for posting it.)

[kishnevi]

The guy was a complete hack & a bullshit artist imo .. history is riddled those. We can learn from the failure and move on.

Admirers of Stockhausen should be the last to complain about that.

[Sergeant Rock]

So any opinions on the above contrasting comparison?

I enjoyed both...in fact, enough to order CDs.

Sarge

[Cato]

I enjoyed both...in fact, enough to order CDs.

Sarge

Showing once again the financial dangers of reading GMG!!!   

[Sergeant Rock]

Showing once again the financial dangers of reading GMG!!!   

No shit 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

I enjoyed both...in fact, enough to order CDs.

Sarge

Showing once again the financial dangers of reading GMG!!!   

(* chortle *)

[Karl Henning]

. . . Still, I can't help but feel that Asia will be remembered, if at all, for his attack on Cage rather than because of anything he composed.

And if he reflect on that, he will probably find it galling.

Good.

Incidentally, I enjoy the Cage Concerto. (I've not listened to the Asia; which I point out only to forestall inquiry after the comparison.)

[kishnevi]

We had dissimilar reactions. I found the Cage very engaging: I was hanging on the edge of my seat in anticipation throughout the work, and found it beautiful in sections.  The Asia concerto is the kind of 20th century work which I don't find very interesting.  His music is well-written, but to my ears is missing an ephemeral ingredient which causes me to listen to more by a composer.  I guess it is a spark of magic.  My interest in Asia is mainly because he is a Jewish composer who will use Hebrew texts and other elements from Judaism in his composing. 

Still, I can't help but feel that Asia will be remembered, if at all, for his attack on Cage rather than because of anything he composed.

I exactly agree with the sentence I highlighted from your post.  We seem to think rather similarly about Asia; it's just that you like the Cage piece better than I do.   

I do think that Cage will be remembered (say, a hundred years from now) more for his ideas than any actual work he composed

[petrarch]

1 hour 43 minutes 53 seconds

Better if they brought it down to 4 minutes 33 seconds and leave only the background audio.

[petrarch]

Nah .. that wouldn't be 'useful' or 'meaningful' at all.

Ha, because the 'alternative' is?