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I'm deaf, you insensitive clod

Never heard of it.

My composition teacher told me that he was designated to look after Cage when he came to Liverpool some time in the 70s or 80s. Anyway, he said that he asked Cage about 4'33" and whether it was supposed to be some kind of philosophical statement about environmental sound, forcing the audience to listen to itself. Apparently, Cage's reply was something along the lines of "hmm, yeah, that sounds interesting!", almost like it hadn't occurred to him, or he was just reluctant to be forced to define the meaning of it as something specific. After reading Silence (probably one of the most tedious but interesting books I've ever had to read), I'd say that seems about right. I think he wants you to draw your own conclusions about the meaning of his compositions, whatever they may be.

I would be impressed if someone performed it without a timing device and was accurate.

Then you haven't heard the original, but the orchestration of this masterpiece

you definitely should look for it then. i recommend claudio abbado's studio version, even though he takes it a bit on the slow side—the rests in the second movement have so much vibrancy and colour. some people prefer pierre boulez's recording, but it is live, and reportedly someone coughs around 1:38. there's also oliver knussen's interpretation in the collected silent works of john cage edition for completeness, to say nothing of the chamber versions of which david tudor's is the obvious must-have.

Yeah, I miss that.

Anything from "Fantasia". Seriously, people.