Analysis from Simplification to Interactivity in John Cage’s 4’33” and Philip Glass’s Metamorphosis Based on Jonathan D. Kramer’s Theory

The postmodernist musical works reflect the uncertainty, fragmentation, irony, and carnival of postmodernism, and some of them also embody the characteristics of simplification and interactivity. In this paper, John Cage’s 4’33” and Philip Glass’s Metamorphosis will be compared and analyzed with Jonathan D. Kramer’s theoretical view, to research the simplification and interactivity of the reasons, as well as the musical and social significance. Simplification is one of the prerequisites of interactivity. The simplification of Glass’s Metamorphosis accounts for the simplification or even elimination of musical elements, but the emotions and meanings expressed in the works are not affected. It leaves a broader imagination, which is where the interactivity arises. Postmodernist music composers use simplification skills to resonate with listeners who the social environment and postmodernist values have influenced in their works. The “blank left” of postmodernist music works gives the audience reasonable space for integration, and the willingness of the postmodernist audience to actively participate in the work does not limit the work to unilateral output and complete acceptance by the other side. This interactivity also creates a broader range of possibilities.