Do you think silence can be music? John Cage composed 4'33, which is three movements of silent music performed for 4:33 minutes. As you can also notice from the video below, the performer really does nothing but count the time. Even though the audiences listened nothing, they gave a big applause to the performer. Let’s watch the “wonderful” performance.
Actually, it is very hard to make absolute silence. In the video, even though the performer didn’t play any note and nobody is saying something, you can still hear someone’s breathing, sniffling, and coughing. If you were in the concert hall in person, you could even hear the sound of air-conditioner, your swallowing (or other’s), or a latecomer’s walking. That is Cage’s intention. He said, “Everything we do is music.” What a beautiful phrase! However, some people might say that silence cannot be music. You don’t hear any note or rhythmic pattern. You might think you waisted your time. However, if you consider music is a way of conveying or evoking a certain emotion, the silence evokes relief, calm, or even anger in your mind, so I argue John Cage’s 4'33 is a wonderful music.
The Amadinda Percussion Group adopted a different approach to John Cage’s silent music. They decided to put the microphones out of the studio so they recorded different natural sounds for each of the movements like a white noise which is getting popular nowadays. It might be too vivid sound than Cage intended as it’s written at the end of the article. However, if you’re sitting in a silent room alone, you could still hear some sound from the outside and might find interesting aspect from it.
Today, many people get stressed from the noise pollution and electronic device. Have you ever spend about 5 minutes to do “nothing”? No television, no radio, no music, not talking, not eating? I strongly believe that John Cage’s silent music can let you take a rest from the stress and focus more on yourself. I would suggest to spend 4 minutes and 33 seconds to listen to 4'33 and see what you’re feeling. You must find a sensation.
