An Avant-garde is someone who is ahead of his time. He is a person who is willing to cross new boundaries and to try new things. The meaning of an Avant-garde is a group or an individual who is active in the invention and application of new techniques in a given field. Who else could this definition fit better than John Cage himself? He himself believed that he was someone who wanted to invent new music. “Cage considered himself a musical inventor” (Page 83, 20/20). John Cage’s art or experiment as you might see it, is definitely a great achievement is the field of music. His Sonata No 5 for prepared piano, which was written in 1948, was one of the greatest music he ever wrote.Music, in most of the dictionaries is defined as sound that has rhythm and melody or harmony. Rhythm. When we listen to music we use this term quite often. In almost all the songs we appreciate we would attach the word Rhythm to it. Rhythm is defined as a regular repetition of a beat. It is also defined as the time element of music. When we hear John Cage’s Sonata No 5, we can clearly hear a repetition of sound. So we hear a rhythm. Melody on the other hand is defined as sound in a pleasant order and arrangement or also a sequence of single tones organized rhythmically. It is very evident that Sonata No 5 is melodic since it is organized rhythmically. Therefore it definitely fits the technical definition of music. The surprising part of the first performance of such a relative new sound at the time was that when the audience first heard the Sonata they heard “sounds of profound beauty” and also “noises rich in sound” (Page 87,20/20). Which again proves that not only is the Sonata No 5 music, but it is good music which people enjoyed.To listen to music is one thing, but to appreciate it is entirely another. John Cage’s music was revolutionary. The music that he wrote or preferably invented was not always me...
