From: Ismael Valladolid Torres
<ivalladt(a)punkass.com>
Again, depends upon the context. John Cage wrote
a famous piece 4'33" which
is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence in three movements. How about
buying a CD of that one? Yet, its impact on the contemporary music scene is
monumental and it is practically impossible to find a book which discusses
20th century music without mentioning this work.
IIRC the point of that piece was that the duration was exactly 4'33"
(wow!)
friends.... the point of that piece was neither the silence, nor the duration, but rather
the fact that it brings to conscious contemplation the web of sounds which exists around
us all the time; it's about looking/listening outward, and appreciating the potential
for beauty in the entire context of our lives, quite apart from those little corners in
which we so earnestly control things.
as cage said, sitting in a room while someone is operating a typewriter may be quite
annoying, but also has the potential to be quite interesting, if one simply decides to
listen actively to the sounds of the machine. the same goes for unmodulated white noise,
or anything else.
whether or not we call it music is of little concern to me.
--
.pltk.