There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad-free. Listen with Wondry apartment in the West Village in New York City.

65-year-old avant-garde composer John Cage sits down in his favorite chair, a cup of tea in one hand, and a large manila envelope

in the other. Spring, sunshine, pours in through the tall windows of his home, and for a moment or two,

John just sits and watches the steam from his drink curl into the air. Then he sets the tea aside,

opens the envelope, and slides out the magazine inside.

It's the debut issue of a specialist arts publication, and the entire first edition is dedicated to an interview with John.

There's a black and white photograph of him on the front cover, along with a quote,

art, when it's useful, should spill out of just being beautiful

and move over to other aspects of life

so that when we're not with the art,

it has nevertheless influenced our actions or our responses.

John is pleased with that.

He flips through the rest of the pages of the magazine,

but as he reads his own words,

his mind begins to wander, and he

thinks back over the achievements and setbacks of his long career. John has been a composer for more

than four decades, but he's no ordinary musician. Inspired by the cultures of China and South Asia,

he's torn up the traditional rulebook of Western music and probe the boundaries of what

composing even means. He's embraced chance and randomness in his work, and he's been a pioneer

of making music with a so-called prepared piano, a piano that has objects placed in between

its strings to alter the sound it makes. But as John sits in his apartment this morning,

there's only one piece he feels like hearing.

...