full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dallas Taylor: What silence can teach you about sound

Unscramble the Blue Letters

This pciee is actually not very typical of John Cage's writing. He's more known for his innovations and avant-garde techniques. But despite his reputation, no one was prepared for what he did in 1952, when he creaetd the most daring piece of his career. It was called "4'33''," and it was a piece that some ctciirs even refused to call "music," because for the entire diatourn of the piece, the performer plays nothing at all. Well, to be technical, the performer is actually playing rest. But to the audience, it looks like nothing is happening.

Open Cloze

This _____ is actually not very typical of John Cage's writing. He's more known for his innovations and avant-garde techniques. But despite his reputation, no one was prepared for what he did in 1952, when he _______ the most daring piece of his career. It was called "4'33''," and it was a piece that some _______ even refused to call "music," because for the entire ________ of the piece, the performer plays nothing at all. Well, to be technical, the performer is actually playing rest. But to the audience, it looks like nothing is happening.

Solution

  1. piece
  2. duration
  3. created
  4. critics

Original Text

This piece is actually not very typical of John Cage's writing. He's more known for his innovations and avant-garde techniques. But despite his reputation, no one was prepared for what he did in 1952, when he created the most daring piece of his career. It was called "4'33''," and it was a piece that some critics even refused to call "music," because for the entire duration of the piece, the performer plays nothing at all. Well, to be technical, the performer is actually playing rest. But to the audience, it looks like nothing is happening.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
john cage 15
david tudor 2
piano lid 2
muzak company 2
background music 2
sonic world 2

Important Words

  1. audience
  2. call
  3. called
  4. career
  5. created
  6. critics
  7. daring
  8. duration
  9. entire
  10. happening
  11. innovations
  12. john
  13. performer
  14. piece
  15. playing
  16. plays
  17. prepared
  18. refused
  19. reputation
  20. rest
  21. technical
  22. techniques
  23. typical
  24. writing