The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters

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A Lot of Nothing" by Coheed and Cambria (Split into 11 sections ranging from 5–15 seconds in length) To celebrate this, the musician Reylon will perform 4’33’’ on the yangqin, or hammered dulcimer, at London’s LSO St Luke. This truly underlines the complicated business of performing what a composer wrote honestly and is the constant challenge we as performers face. Yves Klein, Overcoming the Problematics of Art: The Writings of Yves Klein (Spring Publications, 2007) Some composers have discussed the significance of silence or a silent composition without ever composing such a work. In his 1907 manifesto, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, Ferruccio Busoni described its significance: [1]

These differences, however, happened in such a predictable fashion that the researchers were able to identify the heard melody just by analyzing the EEG signals produced during the imagery sessions. Silverman, Kenneth (2010). Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 184. ISBN 9780307594570. silent; in three movements lasting a total of four minutes and 33 seconds, for any instrument or combination of instrumentsPart of the moment, part of the performance … an audience at London’s Royal Festival Hall in March 2019 listening to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/the Guardian

The composer instructed: "In a situation provided with maximum amplification, perform a disciplined action. The performer should allow any interruptions of the action, the action should fulfill an obligation to others, the same action should not be used in more than one performance, and should not be the performance of a musical composition." [8] When I was asked to review a book about conducting my first reaction was to say no thanks. Then I thought that even if I had to endure another book of two-dimensional pictures of beat patterns it would at least give me a platform to parade my wisdom and prejudices, so I said yes.

There are challenges to working abroad. Humour can be a most valuable tool in creating and maintaining a positive atmosphere, and it is a very effective way of defusing tension. Disguising criticism with a cloak of self-deprecation can produce the right results while making sure the air stays free of any potential negativity. But you have to be careful. Not everybody’s sense of humour is the same. A joke in Manchester might not go down so well in Munich and what could be considered a light touch in Paris might well be thought of as superficial in St Petersburg. In Ocean of Sound, David Toop dismisses the idea that 4’33’’ was inspired by Zen Buddhism, highlighting the impact of Cage’s experience in the anechoic chamber on the genesis of his idea. I would argue that there’s no need to choose. Twenty-four blank measures. Earlier title: "Great sorrows are mute: incoherent funeral march". The composer instructed: "Great sorrows being mute, the performers should occupy themselves with the sole task of counting the bars, instead of indulging in the kind of indecent row that destroys the august character of the best obsequies." [4]

The authors therefore conclude that our enjoyment of music is more complex than just a kneejerk reaction to sound. It is a constant processing that happens even when there is nothing to hear but the whirr of our brains’ prediction engine. The impact and the truth of this book is best realised by reading it cover to cover yourself. It is properly organized so that it not only informs the reader of the truth which rarely is known about what a conductor really is, does and feels but also confesses the doubts and conflicts that are part of this profession. Dramatic Pause Of Silence To Signify The End Of The Album And Beginning Of Additional Songs Included On The CD To Make People Feel Better About Buying The CD Instead Of The Vinyl Version" by Kid606 on Who Still Kill Sound? He profoundly describes conducting as “a communion of private emotion,” and lyrically states, “… It is your relationship with the music that lies at the heart of your artistic identity. You are a musician first, a conductor second.” Wigglesworth constantly emphasizes the privilege and honor that come with the job of conductor, shedding light on his humbleness and gratitude toward his success in the craft. All-in-all refreshing and full of insurmountable perspective, this book is a must-read for conductors of all ages and levels. The researchers’ companion study looked at a more natural form of silence – the rests and pauses written into Bach’s melodies. Previous studies on this topic tended to artificially cut out notes from a melody, leaving unexpected silence. But Marion and DiLiberto wanted to study the structured silences that naturally crop up in musical structures.DeWoskin, Kenneth J. – A Song for One or Two, Center for Chinese Studies, the University of Michigan, 1982 (p. 138) Researchers at the ENS, part of PSL University, have gone a step further into the exploration of our brain's response to music. In a new body of work, they ask an unusual question that takes full advantage of the brain’s predictive abilities: what is our response to music that can’t be heard? This experience sits comfortably with the more philosophical aspects of qin theory, and with Cage’s intentions for 4’33’’. Later in life, Cage still recalled the sounds that were heard during the premiere, including the sound of the wind outside, and the sound of people walking out of the concert hall. In his book Listen to This, Alex Ross describes Cage’s life as ruled by the thought that “all sounds are music”. “He wanted to discard inherited structures,” says Ross, “open doors to the exterior world.” (13) Cage famously believed that “there is no such thing as silence”, a belief underlined by his experience in Harvard University’s anechoic chamber, a soundproof room where, according to the writer David Toop, he heard “the high singing note of his nervous system and the deep pulsing of his blood”.(14) Next year marks the 70th anniversary of John Cage’s 4’33’’, the seminal work which is credited in Western music discourse as launching the concept of silent music.

Cage’s influences in Eastern mysticism are well-discussed, if often overlooked in appraisals of 4’33’’ cultural impact. His solo piano piece Music of Changes was composed using the I Ching, and his work is accepted to have been transformed after a visit to Japan arranged by Yoko Ono, who had noted the influence of Zen Buddhism in his music.(15) Rosemary Brown Psyches Again!, a 1982 Enharmonic Records LP by David DeBoor Canfield. (Side one contains parodies of works supposedly taken down by British psychic Rosemary Brown from deceased composers. Side two is silent and contains an Introduction by Marcel Marceau and a "discussion" by Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms on the musical merits of Rosemary's Brown's efforts.) DeWoskin, Kenneth J. – A Song for One or Two, Center for Chinese Studies, the University of Michigan, 1982 (p. 117)The band was going through all the motions: the swart, longish-haired leader led away; the brasses, the saxophones, the clarinets made a great show of fingering and blowing, but the only sound from the stage was a rhythmic swish-swish from the trap-drummer, a froggy slap-slap from the bull-fiddler, a soft plunk-plunk from the pianist. [6] You might also see the term tacet al fine which literally means ‘ to be silent until the end.’ Tacet al fine I could easily go on and on about what Mr Wigglesworth has to say about such things as surtitles at the opera, observing other conductors in rehearsal, the various challenges of conducting opera versus concerts, coping with singers versus instrumentalists and the zillion other things about what a conductor faces, decides, likes, dislikes, accomplishes, succeeds, fails and on and on.