Aleatory music

Composer John Cage was Merce Cunningham's life partner and longtime collaborator. Cage, who died in 1992, was a pioneer of electronic music and compositions involving chance and randomness.

Cage died yesterday at the age of 79. The New York Times wrote that Cage "started a revolution by proposing that composers could jettison the musical language that had evolved over the last seven centuries, and in doing so he opened the door to Minimalism, performance art and virtually every other branch of the musical avant-garde." His compositions include spoken texts, radios, toys and the sounds of vegetables being chopped. In honor of his passing, we present highlights of his 1982 interview with Terry Gross.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead concludes his look at some current jazz saxophone quartets, this time focusing on the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, which often collaborates with new music composers.

While Foss is often associated with serialism and other new music styles, he also has deep reverence for more accessible, canonical works. His goal in both his careers has been to bring adventure to listeners, and never merely to shock.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "Lutoslawki Conducts Lutoslawski," a new Phillips recording featuring Polish musician Witold Lutoslawski. The recording features Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto, with Heinrich Schiff as soloist.

Sun Ra's recent releases reveal the pianists' enduring interest in free improvisation and spectacle. Jazz critic Francis Davis says one is a prime example of the musician's ensemble work; the other is unlistenable.

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology and eschews principles of harmony and melody. Cage is still a radical at 73.

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology. Cage is also an expert on mushrooms. In celebration of his birthday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is putting on an exhibition of his scores, "John Cage: Scores & Prints." Cage joins the show to discuss his art and philosophy.

John Cage reads from his "Empty Words" works and discusses his effort to create a "non-syntactical language."