john cage on dependency

Cage:
Branca has to have Branca. Laurie Anderson has to have Laurie Anderson.

My music is quite different; I don't have to be present.

Wim Mertens:
There has been a time in which composers wanted to as stay close to their music as possible.

John Cage:
Like the music of the Middle Ages, that's what these people are like.

It's a return to the Middle Ages but with the use of modern technology.
In fact, it's the modern technology that makes it Moyen Âge, because they make circuits upon which they become habitually dependent.

If the circuits don't function, the music collapses.

It's very different from writing music that can be used by a stranger, someone you don't know.

From A Dip in the Lake, 1982