Clamoring For John Cage (Who Knew?)

Who could have predicted that last weekend’s London festival dedicated to the music of John Cage would be a hit? But it was. “Surely three larger factors counted for more. Cage’s wide reputation, even posthumously, as a witty, pawky, down-to-earth maverick (though he was no real subversive); the fact that this was another BBC-Barbican weekend which promised a grand, enlightening survey of one composer’s work, like others in past years; and above all the super-intelligent programming of the main concerts, which surrounded a few key Cage pieces with comparable and enticing works by his “maverick” American contemporaries.”