chance music

noun

1. aleatory music.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chance music¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

But whereas Xenakis was notably skeptical of John Cage’s “chance music” procedures, and improvisation generally, Wubbels is not.

From New York Times

He muses on the antagonistic interplay of his damaged hands at the piano, or the chance music of construction noise from the adjacent lot.

From Seattle Times

Well, John Cage thought that, and then you have the Cageian idea of chance music, which is cool, and Mozart, also cool.

From Wall Street Journal

Give me Books, fruit, French wine and fine weather and a little music out of doors, played by somebody I do not know—not pay the price of one’s time for a jig—but a little chance music: and I can pass a summer very quietly without caring much about Fat Louis, fat Regent or the Duke of Wellington.

From Project Gutenberg

In aleatoric, or chance, music, on the other hand, some elements of the score are more spontaneous.

From New York Times