From actantial model to conceptual graph: Thematized action in John Cage's 0′00′(4′33′′No. 2).

In this article, I build an actantial model, M , of John Cage's 1962 indeterminate work 0 ′ 00 ′ ′ (4 ′ 33 ′ ′ No. 2). To further investigate Greimas' actantial axes of desire, knowledge and power, I generate an ontology, O , that records the facts of the model through hierarchies of relations and concepts. This allows for a conceptual graph (CG), C , that describes the score's instructions and its actants. Extracting subgraphs of C then allows for reasoned arguments about the implications of Cage's instructions in the score, and in particular, the composer's reference to "an obligation to others." Through a conceptual graph rule R , I offer a framework for generating the structure of a score-informed interpretation of 0 ′ 00 ′ ′ (4 ′ 33 ′ ′ No. 2) that is based on a number of key conditionals that map the actants of the piece and their relation to the unfolding of the work's narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]