John Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde and, in the opinion of many, the most influential American composer of the 20th century. He was a musical pioneer - particularly in the areas of the music of chance, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments. His 'prepared' piano pieces emerged after he was given the task of recording an albums worth of material with one piano. His approach was to insert objects into the strings of the piano, in order to change their sound. Cage was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's lover for the latter part of his life.

Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4’ 33” or Silence, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played – ie. It adds no sound to that of the environment in which it is performed - and has become one of the most controversial compositions of the 20th century.

His teachers included Henry Cowell (1933) and Arnold Schoenberg (1933–35), both known for their radical innovations in music, but Cage's major influences lay in various Eastern cultures. Through his studies of Indian philosophy and Zen Buddhism in the late 1940s, Cage came to treasure the notion of non-intention, and by extension, introduced the idea of the music of chance, which he started composing in 1951. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese classic text on chance events, became Cage's standard composition tool for the rest of his life, though he would also simply resort to the tossing of a coin. In a 1957 lecture, Experimental Music, he described music as "a purposeless play" which is "an affirmation of life – not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living"

Cage appeared widely in Europe and the USA as a lecturer and performer, having an enormous influence on younger musicians and artists; he wrote several books, and was an avid mycologist and mushroom collector.

Click HERE to see John Cage perform "Water Walk" on "I've Got A Secret."