4'33"

 

I know that this famous piece, 4'33", which contributed to John Cage's fame, can come across as a provocation or a joke...

But I find this moment from a Berliner Philharmoniker concert conducted by the great Petrenko absolutely brilliant and moving...

What is silence? Can we listen to silence? What is the sound of silence?

Petrenko tries to grasp and embrace silence, with so expressive gestures, bare hands and an inhabited gaze... There is music in his gestures...

What is a collective, staged silence for musicians? and for an audience?

This excerpt from a concert in the background raises a question: what can be communicated, transmitted and shared through sound and silence? What kind of time is shared in a concert hall, between artists and a crowd of spectators?

This concert extract is not unlike a sacred ceremony, a magical moment, an extraordinary ritual...

The emotion is palpable, not only on the part of the maestro and the musicians, but also on the part of the perfectly silent audience - no one coughs!