Cage's Musicircus is an event based on the simultaneous presentation of many concerts under the same roof at the same time, exemplifying Cage’s utopian ideas about freedom in society. The first performance was November 17, 1967, at the University Stock Pavilion, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where another Cage spectacular, HPSCHD, would premiere at Assembly Hall on May 16, 1969. The second production of Musicircus was at Macalester College Fieldhouse, St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 11, 1970. The European premiere, with Cage cited as director, was during the Journées de musique contemporaine at the Halles de Baltard, Pavillon 9, Paris, on October 27, 1970.

Cage told Daniel Charles: “In a Musicircus you have the right to bring together all kinds of music, which are ordinarily separated. We’re no longer worried about what there is to be heard, so to speak. It's no longer a question of aesthetics.” In the same series of interviews he commented on the two American productions where “each group really worked in an independent manner. No one worried about his neighbor. The result was amazing. But if you stick to concentrated attention, or if you retain the principle of discourse, musicircuses may not be of any interest at all.” Cage regretted that the Paris production had not included film, and he found the performing and auditorium spaces so cramped that the audience could barely move.

The British premiere was in The Great Hall, University of Birmingham, on November 24, 1972, followed by a London performance at The Round House on December 17, presented by the Park Lane Group. My students were involved in both occasions, and the director was Jocelyn Powell. I was anxious to know what Cage had in mind for his Musicircus, so I met him in London on May 20, 1972, and took notes about his recommendations. These are the points he made:

• 1. There are serious differences between societies, such as the United States and Germany, so Musicircus gets various receptions. The first American performance made the composer Herbert Brün livid, but the audience liked it.

• 2. In Minneapolis it was good—the organizer was Sue Weil at the Walker Art Center.

• 3. There should be food and drink, as in a real circus. Ideally, all the senses should be employed.