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List of silent musical compositions

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This is a list of musical works which consist mostly or entirely of silence.

Classical compositions

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]

That which, within our present-day music, most nearly approaches the essential of the art, is the Rest and the Hold (Pause). Consummate players, improvisers, know how to employ these instruments of expression in loftier and ampler measure. The tense silence between two movements—in itself music, in this environment—leaves wider scope for divination than the more determinate, but therefore less elastic, sound.

When Hindemith read that, he proposed a work consisting of nothing but pauses and fermatas.[2]

  • Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1897) by Alphonse Allais, a French humorist (1854–1905)

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."[3]

silent; notated in great rhythmic detail, employing bizarre time signatures and intricate rhythmic patterns.[4]

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.[5]

in two movements, a single 20-minute sustained chord followed by a 20-minute silence[6]

silent; in three movements lasting a total of four minutes and 33 seconds, for any instrument or combination of instruments

also known as 0'00"; the performer determines the extent to which the piece is silent, mostly silent, noisy, or raucous.
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."[7]

Songs

This is a dynamic list of songs and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Albums

This is an incomplete list of albums, which can or may never satisfy any subjective standard for completeness. Revisions and additions are welcome.
  • "Silent Tracks of Various Useful Lengths", by Brett Black. Released in digital format in 2010 and comprising 8 tracks of silence, the album was the first fully silent album to appear on iTunes.[10][11]
  • "Silent Songs for Yoga, Meditation and Relaxation", by Brett Black the Silent Musician. Released in digital format in 2015 and comprising 10 tracks of silence between 5 seconds and 30 minutes in length.[12]
  • "The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan", satirical LP issued by Stiff Records in 1980. (Side one is "The Wit" and side two "The Wisdom", both are divided into multiple tracks but are silent.)
  • Sleepify, a 2014 album by Vulfpeck consisting of 10 tracks of silence. The album was released on the music streaming service Spotify and generated $20,000 in royalty over a two-month period. It exposed a loophole in the streaming service's royalty calculation model.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Busoni, Ferruccio (1911). Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music (PDF). NY: G. Schirmer. p. 23.
  2. ^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (21 April 2013). "Slyly Pricking the Wagnerian Balloon". New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  3. ^ Whiting, Steven Moore (1999). Satie the Bohemian: From Cabaret to Concert Hall. NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 81n.
  4. ^ Betz, Marianne (1999). ""In futurum" - von Schulhoff zu Cage". Archiv für Musikwissenschaft. 56 (4): 331ff. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help) includes one facsimile, p. 335
  5. ^ "Music: Silent Music". Time magazine. 1941.
  6. ^ Yves Klein, Overcoming the Problematics of Art: The Writings of Yves Klein (Spring Publications, 2007)
  7. ^ Silverman, Kenneth (2010). Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage. NY: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 184.
  8. ^ Asbell, Bernard (April 1958). "The Little World of Orville K. Snav". Playboy.
  9. ^ http://altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com/products/1805146-miniature-tokyo-listen-closely-cdr-aow-115
  10. ^ http://www.prweb.com/releases/silent-music/silent-song/prweb10987413.htm
  11. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silent-tracks-various-useful/id366737722
  12. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/silent-songs-for-yoga-meditation/id1054818834
  13. ^ "How Vulfpeck Album 'Sleepify' Used Spotify Loophole to Earn $20,000". classicalite.com. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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