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Cage is not a minimalist. By "minimalist", I mean the specific style of composition that began in the 60's and is typified by composers like Riley, Reich, and Glass. Cage is a modernist and minimlaism is usually seen as the "antidote" to modernism. The way you're using the word is very vague and could be used to describe lots of music. But when you're talking about music, people will assume that you're referring to the specific style of music, not just using a vague descriptive term. Keeps things from getting confusing. Anybody, even Encyclopedia Brittanica, who calls Cage a minimalist is being at best unlcear, but in my opinion, they're just plain wrong.
The only reason I jumped on you is that you said that Cage was crap - how much of his music have you actually listened to? You should listen to his stuff from the 30's and 40's - back when the minimalist composers were little kids.
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