# Who was it?



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

Does anyone remember this? I read about it some months ago and have now forgotten who the man was. I may have the fine details slightly wrong but the story is allegedly true.

A composer/pianist walked onto the stage, took his bow and sat down at the piano. He just sat there, doing nothing. The ongoing chatter in the audience began to die down to total silence as they wondered why he wasn't playing. After nine minutes, he got up and walked off-stage. His comment was something to the effect that he wanted to show that silence is possible. 

I am totally unsure now what title he had given his "composition" but something like Nine-minute Symphony. I'm sorry to be so vague about it. My hope is that someone here also knows about it. Thank you.


----------



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Are you sure he didn't sit at the piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds? If not, this guy was ripping off John Cage.


----------



## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Hazel said:


> His comment was something to the effect that he wanted to show that silence is possible.


John Cage's 4'33. His comment was actually the opposite; he wanted people to notice the sounds all around them in the concert arena.


----------



## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

Four times a day, I feel the temptation to tell unoriginal and stupid jokes.

Thirty times a month, I am able to resist the aforementioned temptation.

Three times today, I was unable to resist the aforementioned temptation.

433
433


----------



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Are you sure he didn't sit at the piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds? If not, this guy was ripping off John Cage.


It well may have been 4 minutes and 33 seconds. As I said, the finer details I'd lost but remembered the story so well. Was it John Cage? And didn't he say something about keeping silent for a short while?


----------



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

jalex said:


> John Cage's 4'33. His comment was actually the opposite; he wanted people to notice the sounds all around them in the concert arena.


Oh, thank you. The story I read did have him saying something about keeping silent but I don't remember what. Now that I know who did it, I can maybe find the story again. It should be in one of my books.


----------



## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

That is very creative but I definately would not want to be the one to pay for a ticket to see 4 minutes and 33 seconds of nothing.


----------



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

TrazomGangflow said:


> That is very creative but I definately would not want to be the one to pay for a ticket to see 4 minutes and 33 seconds of nothing.


But it wasn't "nothing". It was the beauty of silence.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Hazel said:


> But it wasn't "nothing". It was the beauty of silence.


That statement is resonating with me, because as I read this, my grandkids have just left after a visit. Their noise is beautiful, but the post-visit silence is just as beautiful.

I wonder if the story you're referring to is different from that of 4'33", because what John Cage was after was not silence; he was wanting to make the audience aware of the sounds around them which they normally filter out. A darkened hall centering on one man sitting in a spotlight would tend to do that. And I believe at the first performance he left the back door open so there would be ambient sounds.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I guess silence is considered derivative now too.


----------



## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Hazel said:


> But it wasn't "nothing". It was the beauty of silence.


Which I am currently experiencing at no cost at all... save time...


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Perhaps it was two back-to-back performances of 4'33?


----------



## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I guess silence is considered derivative now too.


It's kinda mainstream now, not really my thing.


----------



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> That statement is resonating with me, because as I read this, my grandkids have just left after a visit. Their noise is beautiful, but the post-visit silence is just as beautiful.
> 
> I wonder if the story you're referring to is different from that of 4'33", because what John Cage was after was not silence; he was wanting to make the audience aware of the sounds around them which they normally filter out. A darkened hall centering on one man sitting in a spotlight would tend to do that. And I believe at the first performance he left the back door open so there would be ambient sounds.


More likely the story I "read" is being remembered wrongly. I do that sometimes. Well, often. I get plenty of silence and I find it beautiful, given the noisy world. Especially in a certain restaurant that shall remain unnamed for kindness' sake.

So, let's remember something else to cover Trazom's thought. Wasn't the audience later given a sound performance for the tickets they had bought?


----------



## Hazel (Oct 23, 2010)

Here is a different kind of silence. Be sure to hear it to the very end.


----------

