What is meant by structure in music? Does all music have structure? Part 1

What is meant by structure in music? Does all music have structure? Does all music have form? (With particular reference to John Cage’s pieces). Part 1

Even the oldest examples of music compositions had a predefined form and structure and from the beginning  the composers aimed to create music characterised by order and harmony. In the tradition of classical music, ‘the musical form is the wider perspective of a piece of music. It describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections’ [1]. ‘Musical forms offer a great range of complexity. Most listeners will quickly grasp the form of a short and simple piece, or of one built from many short repetitions. It is also easier to recognise familiar musical forms’[2]. The most acclaimed composers were often associated with particular forms e.g. Ludwig van Beethoven is regarded as the master of Symphonies and Franz Schubert is considered the best songwriter. It was only in the 20^th century, when the compositions started losing their traditional shape. Today, often because of the composer’s spite or because of the lack of other terms, compositions are classified with the names of classical musical forms. We can perceive these examples in the compositions written by John Cage (1912-1992) – the most influential American composer  of the XXth century. In this essay I will discuss what we can now regard as structure and form in music in particular reference to John Cage’s compositions.

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Cage was the most avant-garde composer of the music of the twentieth century.  He gave up  the tradition of Western music, referring to the innovative achievements of American composers: Charles H. Ives and Henry Cowell. J. Cage was the creator of the term ‘experimental music’ and ‘indeterminism’. He composed pieces by using random operations (Music of Changes, 1951) and using extended techniques for a prepared piano (Sonatas and Interludes, 1948). John Cage’s composition lessons with Richard Buhlig prompted him to undertake studies on the issue of what musical form and structure actually are. He came to the conclusion that the only real structural factor in music is time. It fundamentally shaped his idea of musical form in general and his attitude to the structure in music has evolved over the years towards the concept of ​​indeterminism.

[1] A. Brandt, Musical Form, Connexions Web site ( http://cnx.org/content/m11629/1.13/ ), (2007)

[2] C. Schmidt-Jones, Form in Music, Connexions Web site ( http://cnx.org/content/m10842/2.14/), (2011)

This article was written by Edyta Lajdorf – classical pianist and teacher. Please get in touch if you’re interested in piano lessons London.