Imaginary Landscape No. 1 was created by American composer John Cage in 1939 to record constant frequency and variable frequency, large Chinese cymbals and string piano. It is also the first work in the imaginary landscape series. It is scored for four performers: two of them in control of two variable-speed phono turntables and playing frequency recordings, a muted piano, and a cymbal.

When I heard John Cage’s Imaginary Landscape No. 1 in the video, I thought the music was very novel if it was put in that era. So I went to find the whole piece of this work, which lasted about six minutes. His electronic music sounds creepy. I think it is very suitable for making background music for some horror films. After listening to this work, the chorus of this work will keep me in my ears. It’s like I’m in a very empty and dark place, and then aliens will attack.

I read John Cage’s book called silence. John Cage composed music with noise. His most famous music is 4’33 ’’, according to the score of “4:33”, the performer doesn’t need to play a sound from the beginning to the end. Generally speaking, the piano player will open and close the piano cover, wipe sweat and other actions between the movements, and during the performance of this music, all kinds of sounds heard by the audience can be considered as part of the music.

There is a saying in the concept of Buddhism that “emptiness is existence, and existence is emptiness”. This sentence is a good example in John Cage’s “4’33” works. He is really studying silence and looking for this idea. He uses no sound to let the audience know what the contrast of sound is. So I think sometimes nothing can bring you a lot of creativity. For example, before there was no Internet or computer, sound artists would create their own unique sounds, and it just like the Cirque du Soleil, which is different from the traditional circus. Cirque du Soleil does not use animals, On the contrary, Cirque du Soleil is famous for its human performance and stage effect. Although this work has many disputes, I think his work has its own creation and ideas.