Music without God

True atheism requires great courage. Facing a random and purposeless universe, embracing despair -- these are terrifying experiences ill-advised for the faint of heart. An even more daunting proposition is to live accordingly. This is where most atheists fail -- they borrow existential capital from the Christian universe and live as if their lives had meaning and intrinsic value.

I don't know for certain that John Cage (1912-1992) was an atheist, but he composed like one. Prior to the 20th century, most composers believed that the universe was inherently ordered and meaningful, and their music reflected this. Cage believed that the universe was random and meaningless, and sought to portray this truth in his work. (For a sample of Cage's Sonata II, click here. For Winter Music (1957), click here.) As Jackson Pollock did in his art, Cage employed chance to "create" his music. If everything we know in the world is ultimately the product of chance, then music composed in this way is more real or true than the artificial constructions of Bach or Mozart.

Inevitably, Cage's philosophy was merely a whim of convenience which he applied only in his art. An avid mycologist (mushroom collector), he admitted that he could not employ his methodology of randomness to his hobby. He commented, "I became aware that if I approached mushrooms in the spirit of my chance operations, I would die shortly." Siphoning off meaning and purpose from a theistic worldview, Cage lived as if there were such a thing as order when it suited him. I applaud him, however, for the integration of his music with his cosmic nihilism.