In his essay, “John Cage’s 4’33”: Is It Music?” Davies does not offer a specific definition of music, but instead makes an assumption that he himself feels is controversial. Davies states “that it is a necessary condition for something’s being music that it be organized sound” (22). Davies debates throughout his article what music actually is. Davies concludes that he personally believes that 4’33” is not a work of music because it is not a piece that the actual performers (the musicians) perform since no sounds are made from any of their instruments. He instead believes the piece is more of a theater art performance since the audience and environmental sounds, instead of the actual musicians, create the random, organized sounds. Davies proves his point by comparing the silent 4’33” to an empty picture frame; this empty frame is not a piece of art, but a theater like performance where the picture is determined by the background environment at a particular moment.
On the other hand, Levitin takes a scientific approach to music and believes humans’ ability to appreciate different musical compositions distinguishes humans from other animals. Levitin’s viewpoint reminds me of a quote I have seen many times at UMaine Orono’s 1944 hall: “Without art, we are but monkeys with car keys.” Levitin points out that music comprises of different components, such as pitch, timbre, rhythms, and chords, and the human brains are able to process these sounds. I believe that Levitin, like Davies, would not think that 4’33” is actually a piece of music since the silence of the piece does not include the performers (musicians) producing any of these sounds or components for the human listener.
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