The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters

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Of the legends attributed to Tao Yuanming, the Six Dynasties poet who gave up his role as a government official to live as a recluse, there is one that concerns the qin. Tao was said to have kept a qin, the seven-stringed zither which is today called the guqin , without strings on his wall. In a famous couplet, he wrote: 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] These similarities allowed the team to produce a unifying theory on how we predict music: the brain produces a signal prior to hearing a note that is then subtracted from the activity produced when the note is actually heard. In the absence of the note, such as when a pause occurs in music or when one is simply imagining the music, subtraction isn’t possible. This, the authors outline in their discussion, explains why the polarity of the signal is reversed in these moments of silence. Silverman, Kenneth (2010). Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 184. ISBN 9780307594570. annotated transcript of Inventions in Sound, BBC Radio 4 documentary presented by Raymond Antrobus (22)

Betz, Marianne (1999). " In futurum – von Schulhoff zu Cage". Archiv für Musikwissenschaft. 56 (4): 331–346. doi: 10.2307/931056. JSTOR 931056. includes one facsimile, p. 335 Still, I find a great deal of potential when we examine these concepts. DeWoskin writes that, in “Chinese cosmogenic theory, sound in its primal state was inaudible.” (29) Heard music was simply the echo of that silent, original sound. Taking into account the idea that “all sounds are music”, what we hear when we sit in present stillness are the echoes of the original sound. Oliveros, who died in 2016, was a contemporary and friend of John Cage’s. Despite her influence on contemporary music history as a performer, composer and mentor, she is not always found in the mainstream narrative of that history. To those who know her work, she is often spoken of with something akin to reverence. We all have our own views as to what is essential. But humans are fundamentally social animals and only through cooperation have we been able to meet the many challenges these last couple of hundred thousand years. The very concept of social distance is anathema to who we are as a species. The economic benefits of the arts are obvious to anyone without a preconditioned agenda, but it is the human value of shared creative experiences that needs to be equally proclaimed and protected. Musicians are key workers in more ways than one.In a pair of studies published in the Journal of Neuroscience, ENS researchers, including Marion and Dr. Giovanni DiLiberto used electroencephalography (EEG), an electrophysiological technique that measures electrical signals from the brain via electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp, to measure brain signals taken from 21 trained musicians. The musicians were recorded when listening to periods of silence within melodies taken from the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and when imagining Bach’s melodies while sitting in silence. I don’t believe musicians have ever been complacent. On an individual level we are fully aware of the precariousness of the positions we hold within our profession. Nevertheless, to be reminded as a whole generation of what it really means to make music for a live audience could be one of the benefits of this isolating time. Perhaps the privilege of music has been taken for granted. By everyone. Only by taking it away do we realise how essential it is. The University of Manchester’s Julian Dodd doesn’t think so, however. Distilling the concept to its most basic definition, he believes that music must involve the organisation of sounds according to instruction planned by a composer and then executed by a performer. Since all the sounds – such as a baby crying or someone coughing – that might occur in a piece like 4’33” are incidental and unplanned by the composer, it cannot meet this essential criteria, Dodd says. Instead, he prefers to consider it a piece of conceptual art. Silence]" ("A suitable place for those with tired ears to pause and resume listening later") by Robert Wyatt

Shostakovich’s 14th Symphony, the work we are performing this week, uses only a small number of musicians to express a vast range of emotions – an ideal combination for the specific limitations and needs of our time. Written in isolation while in hospital during a flu epidemic, the work expresses the pain of being alone, the importance of trying to live life to the full even amid a maelstrom of struggles and fears, and the value of art as a source of truth and cohesion in society. It is both realistic and uplifting. 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] 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.

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It is terrific to read this truth. Often when I ask what someone thinks a conductor’s instrument is, the reply is usually either the orchestra, the baton or some other observation. I often elaborate when talking about this that the concertmaster’s basic view of the conductor is his left kneecap, the trumpet his right eyebrow etc. Consequently, it is essential that the conductor’s body is so trained that whatever bit a player sees gives the same accurate message. Studying these silences during both heard and imagined music, the researchers noted the resulting brain activity was extremely similar – written silences produced the same inverted polarity in brain activity as imagining music did. This book is not intended to be an instruction manual for conductors, nor is it a history of conducting. It is for all who wonder what conductors actually do. Exploring the relationships with the musicians and music they conduct, and the public and personal responsibilities they face, Mark Wigglesworth writes with engaging honesty about the role for any music lover curious to know whether or not the profession really matters.

Fellow Tangram member Alex Ho wrote, “Narratives that assume Cage as the centre who implicitly conquered an East Asian philosophy, that itself is millennia-old, are frequent and misleading. Although not necessarily through Cage's own active shaping, this aligns with western classical music's long history of marginalising and misrepresenting East Asian cultures and identities.” (16) 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.Mark Wigglesworth enjoys an enviable career of orchestral concerts and opera performances. His honest exposure to his thoughts, fears, misgivings and concerns as well as his dedication to and understanding of the business of being a conductor are beautifully expressed. An illuminating account of what it means to be [a conductor], how it feels, what’s required and why it’s a misunderstood job that has the potential to enrich and terrify in equal measure. The most fascinating sections are those in which Wigglesworth discusses the relationship between conductor and orchestra, one that can be fraught with struggle and blessed with joys. Il Silenzio: pezzo caratteristico e descrittivo (stile moderno) (1896) by "Samuel", a pseudonym, probably Edgardo Del Valle de Paz [ it]; published in the Year 1. Vol. 1. Nº11. Supplement of the journal La Nuova Musica.