John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. (English: John Milton Cage Jr., September 5, 1912 - August 12, 1992) was an American avant-garde classical music composer and a student of Arnold Schoenberg. His most famous work is "4'33", composed in 1952, which has three movements without a single note. He is a pioneer of aleatory music (or "chance music"), extended technique (non-standard use of instruments), and electronic music. Although a controversial figure, he is generally considered one of the most important composers of his generation. He is also a mushroom expert with a hobby of picking and studying fungi. He collaborated with mycologist Alexander H. Smith and artist Lois Lang to publish the Mushroom Book (1972), which contains recipes, poems, observation notes, diaries and illustrations. The book is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.