John Cage, 1912-1992

". . . the father of chance music . . . Cage posed questions that challenge all the assumptions on which traditional music rests. Why should music be different from the sounds of life? Why compose with 'musical' sounds, rather than noises. Why work out music according to melodies, climaxes, twelve-tone series, or anything else that gives the impression of one thing following another in a purposeful order?" (Kerman 347).