Sam Richards
John Cage as ...

Not a biography of John Cage (1912-1992) in the conventional sense, but rather an assessment of the development of Cage’s oeuvre in the context of his interests and passions. Sam Richards examines all the strands that shaped Cage’s work, from the early experimental percussion music and pieces for the prepared piano in the 1930s and ‘40s before he started composing music by chance methods based on the Chinese Book of Changes, the I Ching (including the famous silent piece, 4'33" of 1952) through to the number of pieces he was still adding to shortly before his death in 1992.

With a bibliography and complete list of John Cage’s published works.

Sam Richards
Sonic Harvest - Towards Musical Democracy

For 25 years author and musician Sam Richards was on a quest - a musical quest: how does music assimilate or express the concepts of democracy, equality and community?

Challenging the traditions of the musical academy as he found them as a student, he explores the relationship between music and people, and explodes a few myths along the way.

Sonic Harvest takes us into the formative childhood experiences of popular music; into the experimental world of John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and free improvisation; into the arena of political song in the footsteps of Ewan McColl; into the Irish landscape in the footsteps of Sean O Riada; into folk clubs and festivals all over Britain; into Devon villages where local singers and squeezebox players entertain themselves in pubs, village halls and farm kitchens.