John Cage (1912--1992) is probably best known for
works that challenge the fundamental definition of
music---for example, his groundbreaking 433". In the
last six years of his life, however, Cage wrote 48
compositions now known as the Number Pieces---works,
usually scored for conventional Western instruments,
that often contained precisely defined pitches. Each
performer in one of these pieces performs his or her
music in a strict order, but the actual start- and
stop-times for each musical event vary because of
Cages notational system called "time brackets."
While the time-bracket system...

The classical record business gained a new lease on life in the 1980s when period instrument performances of baroque and classical music began to assume a place on the stage. This return to the past found its complement in the musical ascension of the American minimalists, in particular the music of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams, and smaller specialty labels that focused on experimental composers like John Cage. During this period of change--of classical music's transition of looking both forward and back--Rob Haskins served as a reviewer for The American Record Guide, tracing...