July 30, 2002
Come on, feel the silence
by Matthew Connolly
Wombles composer Mike Batt has been accused of copying John Cage's
'silent' work. Surely, argues our correspondent, he deserves applause,
not a writ
Wombling free is not what Mike Batt, the man behind the Wombles songs,
will be doing if he loses a copyright battle with the publishers of
the American avant-garde composer John Cage. He has been accused of
plagiarising Cages 1952 silent work 4 33, which involves a pianist
opening up a piano lid and, well, not playing the piano for four and
a half minutes or so.
Batts joke piece A Minutes Silence, on the album he produced for
the classical group The Planets, has fallen flat, and he has had to
perform his silence in court to try to prove that its original. He
cannot believe that it has been taken so seriously: As my mother
said, Which bit of his four minutes and 33 seconds are they claiming
you stole? he says.
...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-47-368952,00.html
"Jon Gallant" <[log in to unmask]>
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