I welcome whatever happens next
Memories of John Cage
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Beschreibung
With “I welcome whatever happens next: Memories of John Cage”, Klaus Reichert presents a new book that brings together personal recollection and essayistic thought in a distinctive way. Following “Lesenlernen: Über moderne Literatur und das Menschenrecht auf Poesie” and “Wolkendienst: Figuren des Flüchtigen” (shortlisted for the German Non-Fiction Prize), Reichert returns to a subject that has accompanied him for decades: his relationship with the American composer John Cage.
Emerging from encounters, conversations, and shared work, the book forms an open constellation of memories, scenes, and reflections. Reichert approaches Cage as an artist who resisted fixed form and whose music is best understood not as a finished work but as a process – an event that unfolds in listening.
At the same time, the book reaches far beyond Cage himself. It explores the relationship between sound and language, chance and structure, silence and attention – and the question of how music can be described at all. It also brings into view the close connection to literature, particularly in their shared engagement with James Joyce and “Finnegans Wake”.
Reichert’s writing is marked by clarity and quietness. His recollections gain their force through precision and proximity – and invite the reader to enter into a different mode of listening and thinking.
A thoughtful, multi-layered book for anyone interested in music, literature, and the art of listening.
Persönliche Erinnerungen eines renommierten Literaturwissenschaftlers an die Avantgarde-Ikone John Cage
Einzigartige Innenansicht der kreativen Zusammenarbeit zwischen Cage, Joyce und der Black-Mountain-Szene
Für Liebhaber experimenteller Musik, moderner Literatur und interdisziplinärer Kunstformen
Verbindet intellektuelle Tiefe mit persönlichen Anekdoten – anspruchsvoll, aber nahbar erzählt
Personal recollections of the avant-garde icon John Cage by a renowned essayist
A unique inside view of the creative interplay between Cage, Joyce, and the Black Mountain milieu
For readers interested in experimental music, modern literature, and interdisciplinary art
Combines intellectual depth with personal anecdotes – sophisticated yet accessible
Autor*in
Klaus Reichert
Klaus Reichert (b. 1938) is a writer, translator, and literary scholar. He studied philosophy, German literature, and English literature in Marburg, London, Berlin, and Frankfurt am Main, among others with Peter Szondi and Theodor W. Adorno. After working as an editor at Insel and Suhrkamp (1964–1970) and as co-editor of the Frankfurt edition of James Joyce (1969–1981), he served as Professor of English and American literature at Goethe University Frankfurt from 1975 to 2003. From 2002 to 2011, he was President of the German Academy for Language and Literature.
Reichert’s work includes essays, translations, and studies on European and American modernism, with a particular focus on the intersections of literature, music, and philosophy. He has published extensively on modern literature, poetics, and aesthetic thought, and has engaged in depth with authors such as James Joyce as well as composers such as John Cage.
Themen in »I welcome whatever happens next«
John Cage Experimental Music Contemporary Music Biography Avant-Garde memoirs art history 4'33'' James Joyce zen buddhism musicology composer portrait prepared piano Finnegans Wake chance composition