Or Stockhausen, for integrating studio electronics into traditional musical timbres and forms. Each was a visionary who pushed music to a new level and irreversibly influenced all that followed. My candidate may not make many other lists. But its ultimate influence over the music of the future may come to tower over all of the more obvious choices. He was always happy and gentle, alive with awestruck wonder of the world and especially fascinated by its sounds.
Most music is trivialized by attempts to describe it.
And that was it. While the performer makes as little sound as possible, Cage breaks traditional boundaries by shifting attention from the stage to the audience and even beyond the concert hall. Let's tackle a few obvious questions. But so are all artistic conventions. It's an invitation, not a command.