I think this is a very big question for many scholars. There isnt a simple bibliography for this, he met many people and travelled widley. There is a book called "silence" with much of his writings that will get you started. I also suggest looking into a biography.
Yeah, thak you,Raphael Lyon, for your tips. I am reading SIlence again. But it is so poetic that it has no bibliography! Let us try to find a good biography of Cage. Any suggestions?
In composition silence is known as a musical element.
See the following URL; http://www.hermitary.com/solitude/cage.html
© 2010, the hermitary and Meng-hu
thank you Malka, for your indication! Do u know who is the author of that article?
John Cage studied Zen Buddhism with D.T. Suzuki. Probably the most comprehensive book on the subject is Where the Heart Beats by Kay Larson. You can see a preview here: http://books.google.gr/books?id=OaaMrjDOzGgC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://books.google.gr/books?id=OaaMrjDOzGgC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
You may already know about this video, but I think it's worthwhile to mention it here in this discussion: http://youtu.be/pcHnL7aS64Y
I think silence is an intrinsic part of Eastern philosophy, which John Cage made used with great effect in 4'33''. To me, his not playing for that duration actually created an intensification of expectations that helped focused the attention of the audience like a laser beam. The video link shows how the audience squirmed in their seats while they waited. It sort of reminds me of Beethoven's use of contrasting dynamics to convert his audience into active listeners.
https://archive.org/details/silencelecturesw1961cage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UK-6aaNA
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