Silent Music

Author(s): ANDREW KANIA

Source: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism , FALL 2010, Vol. 68, No. 4 (FALL
2010), pp. 343-353
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40929542

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 ANDREW KANIA

Silent Music

Most discussions of the nature of music begin with as melodies and movements. Various kinds of si-
the vague notion that it is the art of sound. The lences occur during musical performances and on
next step is usually to argue that though sounds musical recordings. Jennifer Judkins has distin-
may be necessary for music, they are not suffi- guished between measured and unmeasured si-
cient, since there are sonic arts other than music, lences and, within the latter category, between
most notably linguistic performance arts, such as silences internal to a musical unit (such as a sym-
poetry and drama.1 However, at some point the is- phonic movement) and those that frame such
sue of silence inevitably comes up. Most theorists units.3 For instance, ordinary rests are measured
want to allow the possibility of musical silence, silences; "grand pauses" are unmeasured internal
that is, silence that is part of a musical work or silences; and the time taken between the end of
performance, though this seems to require reject- the last note of a symphony and the audience's ap-
ing the necessity of sounds for music. In this essay, plause is an unmeasured framing silence. Which
I investigate how best to incorporate the concept type of silence a given silence is may be a matter
of silence into a definition of music and consider of performative interpretation rather than a mat-
the possibility of musical works consisting entirely ter of what the work mandates. For instance, the
of silence. silence between the two statements of the open-
ing motif of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (like the
pause on the final note of each statement) may be
I. MUSICAL SILENCE performed as measured or unmeasured. We might
consider a further category of "quasi-measured"
silences.of
Jerrold Levinson argues for the possibility Prokofiev's
mu- second violin concerto begins
sical silence on the grounds that it with
is a acentral
phrase played twice by the solo violinist
alone. are
structural element of much music: "there All violinists
very take a "breath" between the
few imaginable musics, and no actualtwo
musics, for of this phrase, though no rest is
statements
which silence- the space between sounds-notated- would
it would be unmusical not to. The time
not be a structural principle."2 But taken
althoughby the si-silence is not added to the mea-
lence often plays this structural role, it is
sures, butmore
taken away from the last note of the
firstthan
integral to the music it partly constitutes phrase.
thisThus, the first phrase, including the
characterization suggests. No one would suggest,
silence, is precisely five beats long (hence "mea-
sured"),
conversely, that musical notes articulate yet the silence may not be conceived of
the struc-
ture of the silences they surround, because clearly as a particular length, such as an
by the performer
one is supposed to attend to the notes; they or
eighth-note doquaver (hence "quasi-").
more than simply structure what they A silence of any of these kinds may be an in-
surround.
Yet silences, too, must be actively attended
tegral partto of if
a larger musical whole.4 This can be
one is to understand a musical performance.
seen by imagining any example performed without
The primary reason for admitting the the existence
silence. In any of these examples, to skip over
of musical silence is that silences, inthethe form
silence and just play the notes would have sig-
of rests, are integral parts of musical items such bad) results at a number of levels.
nificant (usually

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68:4 Fall 2010

© 2010 The American Society for Aesthetics

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344 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

For example, to performinsteadin

propose
thisa definition
way according
would to whichcount
music isplaying
as an error, just as would any event intended a to be listened tonote
wrong (or o
playing an additional note in place
heard) in such-and-such a way.9of the silence
The character of a melody would
Any definition bebegins
of music that dramaticall
with a nec-
changed without its constituent rests,
essary condition of this sort would seemmost
to allow no
tably rhythmically. Furthermore, since
for the possibility of a musical emotiona
work consisting en-
expressiveness and other broadly
tirely of silence. semantic
In the remainder of this essay I fea
consider
tures of music depend in several
some candidates
wayfor the role
on of anmore
en- ba
sic musical features, the
tirelyexpressive character
silent piece. If anything of a
comes to mind when
melody, or an entire movement the idea of silent music is in
raised,the case
it is probably Johnof
grand pause, would beCage's dramatically altered
4'33" . This is also the piece wer
most discussed
the silences not to be performed.5 in the academic literature as silent. I thus begin
One question, then, iswith how a consideration of 4' 33" and then
to revise the consider
charac-
terization of music as an art of sounds or a defini- other arguably silent pieces of music, several of
tion of music that requires sounds as a necessary which predate Cage's work.
condition. One way to do so would be simply to
add silence as an inclusive disjunct, so that music
becomes the art of sounds, silence, or both. This ii. 4f33"
is the strategy employed by Jerrold Levinson. He
says he understands the phrase 'organized sound' As with many other famous works in the West-
"to comprise the organization of sound and si- ern classical tradition, there is some dispute about
lence, or sounds and silences taken together."6 the exact nature and content of John Cage's 4' 33"
Thus, when he goes on to consider John Cage's (1952).10 Cage had been mulling over the idea of
4'33'' for instance, he argues that its framing of the a silent piece since at least 1948, mentioning it in
ambient sounds in the performance environment a lecture delivered in February of that year, and
is "a limiting case of the organization of sound- again in an interview for Time in 1949.11 Several
and-silence."7 experiences seem to have galvanized him to ac-
Though this approach to including silence in a tually compose the piece. One was seeing Robert
definition of music is extensionally adequate, it is Rauschenberg's White Paintings (1951). Another
not very informative. One might reasonably ask was an experience inside an anechoic chamber
why both silence and sound should be included (a room designed to admit no sounds nor pro-
in the definition of music. A definition that pro- duce any echoes) in 1951. A third was his time
vided such an explanation should be preferred to at Black Mountain College during the summer of
one that does not, since one central purpose of a 1952, when 4'33" was composed.12 The work was
philosophical definition is to give us some insight premiered by the pianist David Tudor just outside
into the nature of the phenomenon being defined. Woodstock, New York, on August 29, 1952. The
(After all, a circular definition may be extension- performance consisted of three movements, indi-
ally adequate, but it should be rejected in favor of cated by Tbdor's lowering of the piano lid at the
a noncircular definition on the grounds that circu- beginning, and raising it at the end, of each move-
lar definitions are uninformative.) ment. Because of the way the score was laid out,
We have just seen the explanation that under- Tiidor had to turn several pages during the per-
lies the inclusion of both sound and silence within formance.13 The total performance lasted around
the ambit of music: both must be listened to in any four minutes and thirty-three seconds (plus some
adequate experience of a piece of music.8 Given time in between movements), Tlidor measuring
that this point is relatively uncontroversial, why the length of each movement with a stopwatch.14
should being a sound continue to appeal as a nec- The score used at the premiere is now lost, but
essary condition on being music? I surmise that it Tiidor has reconstructed part of it. It consists of
may be a misplaced attempt to secure the objec- a blank piano score, that is, treble- and bass-clef
tivity of music. The alternative might appear to be staves that contain no notes or rests. There are bar
a subjective definition along the lines that music is lines, but the measurement of time is graphic, with
any event listened to (or heard) in such-and-such a two-and-a-half centimeters representing approxi-
way. But this is not the only alternative. We could mately one second. The second, "Kremen" score

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 Kania Silent Music 345

is more a piece of music at all?

purely Stephen Davies has argued
graphic,
musical notation.
that it is not. He argues that it is It
a theatricalcon
work
vided by about music.vertical
long The necessary condition that Davies line
Again, thinks Cage's work fails to fulfill
horizontal length is that music
case, one must be organized
inch sound. In arguing that 4' 33"
represents
ing from does not meet this
this condition, Davies rejectsalso
score three
both between arguments thatand within
it does, and defends one that it
third, "tacet"
does not. I willscore
consider these arguments is
in turn,th
of a single arguing that Davies has assessed
page, with three of them in-the
bered, each correctly,
containingand that the sounds of performances of the
"TACET."16 4' 33"At the
do qualify as organized. botto
from the The first argument Davies considers
composer: is that,
"The
total length since in
silence often structures sounds, we can see
minutes an
mance the performer's silence during 4' 33" as structuring
by any instrumentalist or combination the sounds of its performance.
of instru- Davies rightly re-
mentalists and last any length jects
of this argument. The silence of a performer of
time."17
One feature of the piece that usually
4' 33" simply goes
does not un-
bear the same relation to the
noted, then, is that it has a sounds variablethat occur duringA
title. theper-
performance as ei-
formance of it that lasts five minutes and thirteen ther the silences of a performer who observes the
seconds (not including time between movements) rests while playing a conventional melody or the
should apparently be called 5' 13". Part of the rea- silences that frame a traditional performance.20
son for this going unnoticed is the relative con- In 4 '33", the performer's silence highlights the
servatism of many performances of the work. It sounds that occur while she is silent, rather than
seems to be widely considered a piece for piano, articulating the sounds surrounded by (or sur-
properly lasting four minutes and thirty-three sec- rounding) her silences. We might similarly observe
onds, and called 4' 33", presumably because this that the percussionist's silence during a symphonic
is how it is most frequently performed and dis- movement for which his part is marked "tacet"
cussed. The fact that the first score was for piano, does not structure the sounds of that movement.
as indicated by the distinctive braces of staves, The second argument for the musical nature
should not be given much weight here. Since it was of 4' 33" that Davies considers is one suggested by
written for a particular performance occasion, this Levinson. The argument is that the selection of the
need not be taken as definitive of the piece. Be- performance environment is minimally sufficient
sides, even if this score was intended as definitive, for the organization required to qualify perfor-
many works are revised after their initial perfor- mances of 4' 33" as music, since one can anticipate
mance. The first score was never published, while in broad outline the kinds of sounds that will occur
in different environments.21 Davies does not say
all published versions contain the information that
the work may be performed by any combination what is wrong with this argument: he says merely
of instrumentalists. Similarly, the many remarksthat it is "trumped" by his argument against the
Cage made about the piece after its composition musical nature of 4' 33" (which I consider below).
and publication should be given less weight than The argument is only sketched by Levinson, and
the published score, at least by those who believe one could interpret it in two ways: as resting on
a work is finished when it is presented in public the claim that being able to predict to some degree
forum, in a conventional way, as complete.18 the kinds of sounds that will occur during a perfor-
It is unsurprising that Cage and others refer mance is either necessary or sufficient for the orga-
to 4' 33" as his "silent piece." However, there is nization necessary for being music. Taken as a nec-
general agreement among musicologists and other essary condition, I believe it would be too strong.
theorists that the content of the piece is not the si- Both Levinson and Davies want to allow all kinds
lence of the performer, but the ambient sounds in of avant-garde sonic appropriations as music. My
the performance environment.19 If this is right, it guess is that both would allow for the possibility
is clear that 4' 33" is not a piece of silent music, of a musical piece that required, for instance, the
though the silence of the performer plays a cen- playing of a CD randomly selected from a library
tral role in the work and its performance. Is 4' 33" of sound effects. This would fail the condition we

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346 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

are considering on anyofbut some other

the sounds
mostin the performance
vacuous envi-
read
ronment
ing of "prediction." Read asstanding to the organized sounds
a sufficient in the
condition
however, the argument relation of noise.25 promising.
is more Davies argues that this Given
possi-
bility is aleatoric
the possibility of radically excluded by the nature
works, of Cage's such
work. a
'Noise' here means sounds that
the one just imagined, predictability of are excluded
the sound from
of a performance would the content
seem of the performance.
to imply In mostenough
musical
control over the sonic performances,
nature of it is pretty clear what counts as
a performance t
noise and what does not. Sounds made by the au-
qualify the sounds as organized.
Levinson has anotherdience count as noise, as for
argument do sounds made by
the the
orga-
nization of the sounds musicians
of 4' that are not
33", mandated by the
namely, work.26the
that
performer organizes This the is a sounds
flexible concept.
of Whatthe
might perfor
count as
mance by framing them.22 noise in one performance
The framing (for example, thehere
tim- i
not achieved by the performer's panist dropping a coin on silence,
one of his kettle but
drums) by
her actions. David Tudor lowered the lid of the will not count as noise in another (for example,
in a performance of the Enigma Variations, where
piano at the beginning, and raised it at the end, of
each movement. Davies suggests that were 4' 33" this is the traditional method of playing certain
"to be played by a violinist, it would be proper passages in the thirteenth variation). Sounds that
for her to tune up on stage before its commence- might count as noise in most situations (for exam-
ment, and to be ready to play as it lasts, violin ple, those of a wind machine) may be transformed
posed on the knee."23 How could these actions be into musical content by appropriation (for exam-
said to structure the sounds of the performance? ple, in Vaughan Williams's Sinfonia Antarticd).
By delimiting a certain time period, the sounds Davies's point, however, is that in 4 '33", Cage, or
of which are thereby determined as the content the performer, implicitly says something like "All
of the performance. Just as selection of the venuesounds that occur during the performance count
determines in part the sounds of the performance, as part of the performance," thereby excluding the
possibility of noise, and hence of organization.
the time at which Tudor starts his stopwatch, or the
violinist begins being prepared to play, determines It is not obvious why Davies believes this ar-
that this cough (during a movement), but not thatgument trumps the preceding argument that the
dropping of the program (between movements), sounds of a performance of 4' 33" are organized in
counts as part of the content of the performance.virtue of the framing actions of the performer. The
organizational function of framing seems more
Davies is sympathetic to this argument when he
intuitively compelling to me than the principle
considers it as an argument for the status of 4' 33"
as art in a broad sense; however, when it comes toDavies appeals to that organized sounds require
considering 4' 33" as organized sound, and hence the possibility of noise in the performance envi-
music, he says that this framing does not count ronment. Be that as it may, Davies's argument can
as selection or appropriation of the sounds of bea resisted without relying on this basic conflict of
performance of the work.24 It is not clear to me intuitions, for it can be argued that performances
why this framing should not count as selection orof 4' 33" do admit the possibility of noise. Davies
considers mistakes the performer might make as
appropriation in the relevant sense. And while the
potential candidates for noises in the performance
above discussion of the necessity or sufficiency of
the predictability of organized sounds might be of 4' 33". First, he considers the possibility of the
performer taking longer or shorter than four min-
used to lend support to this conclusion, this argu-
ment is independent of the previous one. Anyway, utes and thirty-three seconds to perform the piece.
In fact, as we have seen, this would not count as
in rejecting these arguments, Davies seems to rely
primarily on their being trumped by his positive a mistake, since the piece can last any length of
argument for the thesis that the sounds of a per-time, but, anyway, by taking longer to perform the
piece, the performer simply includes more ambi-
formance of 4' 33" are not organized. It is to this
argument that I now turn. ent sounds in the performance; these sounds do
Davies's argument for the exclusion of perfor- not thereby count as noise in the relevant sense.27
mances of 4' 33" from the class of organized sounds The other possibility Davies considers is the
is that in order for a collection of sounds to count performer sounding a note accidentally. Perhaps
in lowering the piano lid, the performer may catch
as organized, there must be the possibility at least

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 Kania Silent Music 347

his hand and

Quelle horreur!
as ambient
to drop her
ered part
pose, however,
contractual
ter night
"Minute
Waltz"
formance of 4'33" . This strikes me as different
from the accidental C-major chord, as does the
possibility Davies considers that "the audience
might stand as one person and sing their nation's
anthem."28 (I assume in the latter case that the
singing of the anthem is a protest of some sort,
rather than an inexplicable simultaneous outpour-
ing of nationalistic fervor.) These cases seem dif-
ferent from the accidental ones precisely because
they are intentional. But Davies also considers
someone storming out of the auditorium yelling,
"This is rubbish!" That is an intentional action, and to be counted as part of the content of a perfor-
Davies plausibly concludes that it would countmance
part of the content of the performance.
Does anything distinguish the disgruntled audi-
ence member from the disgruntled performer certain
the patriotic audience? The contents of their whether in-
tentions are different in that the disgruntled per-
former and the patriots aim to ruin or disrupt
the performance, while the disgruntled audience
member is merely making a scene. Davies would
argue that this distinction is not relevant to the
point at hand because Cage intends all ambient
sounds in the performance environment to count
as contents of the performance. It is this assump-
tion that I would dispute, however. It seemscontents."31to
me that Cage's response to the disgruntled au-
dience member would be one of ironic amuse-
ment, while he might be truly annoyed by of
renegade pianist or the singing audience members.
Why so? Because Cage's point in writing the piece
was to draw our attention to the ambient sounds
of our environment, particularly the performance
environments, partly as a reminder that they are
ever-present, despite our usual attitude of ignor-
ing them, and partly as a case for their aesthetic
interest.29 If this is right, then Cage's intention for
the contents of the piece was not quite as sim-
ple as we have heretofore assumed. The intention
was not simply that any and every sound in the
performance environment should count as part of
the performance, but that any sound not intended
to bilk the audience's ability to attend to sounds
that would count as accident
ambient noises in the perfor-
mance of a traditional musical work should count
Nonet
as part a sound
of the performance. This intention mayas be
bow,
irresolvably vague and
in terms of what it covers, but it
ofseems coherent,
the plausibly attributed
conten to Cage, and,
most importantly for our that
immediate concerns,th to
allow for the possibility of some uncontentious
obligation t
noises in a performance
and, in of 4' 33" '.30
an Examples ofac
such noises include the disgruntled
a performer's
coup
Chopin and the nationalistic audience's anthem
already mentioned, along with, say, the sounds
produced by an audience member who brings his
flute to the concert and plays Debussy's Syrinx
during the performance of 4' 33",
One final objection Davies might make to this
line of reasoning is that it ignores another conclu-
sion he argues for, namely, that the audience mem-
bers are not performers of Cage's work. Davies
might try to argue, then, that their intentions are
irrelevant to whether the sounds they produce are
as of 4' 33". But this misunderstands the argu-
ment. The central issue here is whether composers
and performers have the ability to determine that
or sounds count as part of performances,
or not those sounds are intentionally pro-
duced by them. Davies allows that composers and
performers do have this ability- he defends a rela-
tively liberal view of what counts as organization.
For instance, he allows that the sounds emitted by
the radios used in a performance of Cage's Imagi-
nary Landscape No. 4 (1951) are organized by the
performers, since they are "causally responsible
for the appropriations that occur, if not for their
If this is the case, then a composer
may decree that sounds of a certain sort within
the performance environment, say, count as part
thea given work. For instance, a composer may
write a work in which all the mechanical sounds in
the performance environment are contents of any
given performance, but not the sounds made by
any living being. Similarly, a composer may write
a work in which all the intentionally produced
sounds in the performance environment are con-
tents of any given performance. And she may do so
without making the audience members perform-
ers, just as Davies argues audiences- even noisy
ones- are not performers of 4' 33" . (The musicians
responsible for any music that comes out of the
radios during a performance of Landscape No. 4
are not thereby performers of that work.) So the
intentions behind the actions of the audience in

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 348 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

performances of 4' 33" tionare

to exclude artistic spoken language
relevant, on frommy the view
not because the audience extensionmembers are ofperform
of his definition. Recitations poetry,
ers, but rather because for instance,
Cage willismeetplausibly
conditions 1-3; Levinson
under-
stood as excluding certain introduces intentionally
his fourth condition explicitly to "deal
produce
sounds from the contents of 4'
with the poetry 33",
problem."36 Butinwhat particular
does it mean
sounds intended to prevent to listen to soundsthe audience
"primarily as sounds"? The onlyfrom
paying attention to sounds gloss Levinsonthatprovides iscount
that to listen as
to sounds
noise i
traditional musical performances.32 as sounds is not to listen to them "primarily as sym-
I have defended performances bols of discursive thought"-of that4'is,33"
as language.37
as con-
sisting of organized sound, If this is what the condition appears
which amounts to, then 4'in 33" som
guise as a necessary condition will meet it. in most theorie
and definitions of music. It is not the silence of I argue elsewhere, however, that there is more
the performer that organizes the sounds, but her to listening to music as music than merely not lis-
actions that frame that silence, and thereby the tening to it as language.38 One alternative to this
ambient sounds in the performance environment, via negativa is that musicians intend the sounds
along with Cage's intentions regarding the con- they produce to be listened to under basic mu-
tents of the work. The latter in particular allow sical concepts, such as pitch and rhythm.39 This
for the possibility of noise during performances does of not result in as conservative a definition of
4' 33". music as might at first appear, since one can lis-
I have already pointed out that Cage's work is ten to sounds under a particular concept without
not a silent piece of music, but is it music at alll the sounds' actually falling under that concept.40
That depends, of course, on what further condi- Thus we can admit as music sounds intended to be
tions are taken to be necessary for music. Jerrold listened to for basic musical features that every-
Levinson is one of the few philosophers to have one is aware they do not possess. The definition
offered a detailed definition of music. He argues of music that I defend incorporates this idea as
that music is: follows:

[1] sounds [and silence] [2] temporally organized by a Music is (1) any event intentionally produced or orga-
person [3] for the purpose of enriching or intensifying nized (2) to be heard, and (3) either (a) to have some
experience through active engagement (e.g., listening, basic musical feature, such as pitch or rhythm, or (b) to
dancing, performing) [4] with the sounds regarded pri- be listened to for such features.41

marily, or in significant measure, as sounds.33

Taking the conclusions I have already defended
for granted, 4' 33" clearly counts as music accord-
ing to Levinson's definition. The only conditions
Levinson posits that we have not considered so
far are the broadly aesthetic condition (3) and the
"sounds-as-sounds" condition (4). It seems clear
that Cage intended audiences at performances of
4' 33" to listen actively to the sounds in the perfor-
mance space, and that they would thereby have
an enriching experience.34 Did he intend audi-
ences to regard the sounds of 4' 33" "as sounds"?
At first glance, this condition might seem quite
Cagean. Cage often suggests that we should not
listen to sounds- musical or otherwise- under tra-
ditional musical concepts such as pitch or rhythm,
but hear them as the pure sounds they are. Levin-
son would surely not endorse this proposal, how-
ever, at least not in the all-encompassing way Cage
intends.35 Rather, Levinson introduces this condi-
This definition allows me to make a distinction un-
available to Levinson. There are artists who char-
acterize themselves, or are characterized by oth-
ers, as "sound artists."42 These are artists who pro-
duce sounds for what we might call artistic or aes-
thetic appreciation, but who, like Cage, more or
less explicitly intend for us to listen to these sounds
not under musical concepts, but more purely as the
sounds they are "in themselves."43 We can imag-
ine a musical pair of Dantoesque "indiscernibles":
two works that use the same "found sound" (say,
a field recording of a construction site), one of
which is intended to be listened to under basic
musical concepts, the other of which is not. The
former, I would argue, is a piece of music; the lat-
ter is not- it is nonmusical sound art. Similarly,
I would argue that 4' 33" is not a piece of music,
since Cage intended the sounds audible at its per-
formances not to be listened to under traditional
musical concepts. But nor is it simply a piece of

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 Kania Silent Music 349

theater, as Davies
young girls wou
in a snowstorm." This is not the most
a work of nonmusical sound art. offensive one of the set.47) Consequently, I suggest
Of course, Levinson might draw this same dis- that the work is a hybrid literary-visual joke- an
tinction between two kinds of sonic art, yet insistartwork perhaps, but not a piece of music, because
not seriously intended as instructions to musical
that it is a distinction within the category of music,
rather than between music and another type of performers.48
art. I will not attempt to settle this dispute here. Erwin Schulhoffs Fiinf Pittoresken were pub-
I will just point out that my definition, though lished in 1919. Four of the pieces take popular
not very conservative, is more conservative than genres as their basis (foxtrot, ragtime, and so on),
Levinson's, in the sense that it excludes more from but use them to parody what Schulhoff perceived
the extension of music. Thus, if silent music is pos-as the elitist music of his milieu. The middle move-
ment, "In futurum," however, consists entirely of
sible according to my definition, it will be possible
according to Levinson's too. rests. Many elements of the piece point to a face-
tious intent: though consisting entirely of rests,
each bar on each staff is subdivided in different
III. CANDIDATES FOR SILENT MUSIC and quite complex ways; the clefs of the piano
staves are switched, with the treble clef below
There is general agreement, among thephilosophers
bass clef; the time signatures are nonsensical
at least, that 4' 33" is not a silent andpiece of mu- (3/5 and 7/10), though the
incommensurable
sic, though there is disagreement with rests in every bar
respect to add up to a whole note (semi-
both what it is and the arguments that breve); the scoreits
establish contains not only rests, fermatas,
correct categorization. It turns out, breath marks, that
though, and a grand pause, but also upside-
there are several other candidates for the status down fermatas, exclamation points and question
of silent music, reaching back more than one hun- marks, and "notes" whose heads are smiley- and
dred years. In this section I consider whether any frowny-faces; and, finally, the tempo and stylistic
indications are: "Timeless tempo; the whole piece
of these candidates is in fact a silent piece of music.
In 1897, Alphonse Allais published his "Marche freely with expression and feeling throughout, to
Funebre." With a score consisting entirely of the very end!"49
twenty-four blank bars, the piece looks quite Much of this suggests that "In futurum" is a
similar to the first score of Cage's 4'33".44 (The joke, and a largely visual one at that. On the other
main difference is that there is only a single staffhand, the piece is embedded within a suite that is
with no clefs, as opposed to the piano-specific clearly music for traditional performance. More-
nature of Cage's score.) Supposedly composed over, the categories of "joke" and "music" are not
"for the funeral of a great deaf man," the score mutually exclusive. I argued that Allais's funeral
includes a preface by Allais: "The author of march was not a piece of music on the basis that
this funeral march was inspired in its composi- it was not seriously intended for performance, not
tion by the principle, accepted by everyone, that on the basis that it was a joke. There are sev-
great sorrows are silent. Since great sorrows are eral famous examples of musical jokes, including
silent, the performers should concentrate solely Mozart's Musikalisches Spafi (K522). The other
on counting bars, rather than making that obscene pieces in Schulhoffs suite have a partly comedic
racket which deprives the best funerals of their character, but that does not militate against their
solemnity."45 being music.50 Ironically, the bizarre features of
Though on the surface a promising candidate the score described above do not make for diffi-
for the first silent piece of music, Allais's funeral
culties in performing the piece, precisely because
it consists entirely of rests. (Looking at this idea
march is not a piece of music at all. It is a joke. The
tempo marking for the piece is "Lento rigolando" from another angle, we might observe that many
(slowly, laughing), and it was published in Allais'swidely acknowledged musical works from the lat-
April- First Album, a multimedia work including ter half of the twentieth century have scores that
some visual artworks that would be groundbreak- are much more difficult to interpret in perfor-
ing were they intended seriously.46 (These are a
mance than this one.) The visual aspects of the
series of monochrome images with titles such piece as, are no cause for concern, either. This piece
for the white image, "First communion of anemic may well be a hybrid visual-musical work, but that

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350 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

whether their contents

simply adds to the complexity of the are, like work;
Cage's piece, theit does
ambient sounds of nature.
not take away from its musical the performance environment
Someone might argue that or the silence
"Inof thefuturum"
performers (or recording, is in only
some cases).54
a silent part of a work that includesI will discuss just two post-4'53"
musical sounds,
since it is part of a larger work-
pieces. The first the
is Gyorgy Ligeti's Three suite
Bagatelles of
(1961). Dedicated
five pieces. However, pieces intosuites
David Tudor, whosuchpremiered as this
are regularly played on4' their
33", the pieceown.
seems to be ("In
a gentle parody of
futurum"
Cage's work. The
might be played as an encore atfirst
a bagatelle consists of a sin-
performance of
Cage's piano music, for instance.)
gle note: Whatever
a whole-note (semibreve) C# two octaves use
we reserve the term 'work' for
below middle-C, with in
a tempoaindication
strict of f = sense,
we must allow for musical40-48, the marking dolcissimo
pieces that (veryare
sweetly),parts
and of
larger works but may alsoa fermata over the concluding
stand alone. double bar-line. The
next two movements each
In sum, I suggest that Schulhoff s consist
"In of a whole-note
futurum"
rest: one at the silent
is arguably the first completely same tempo,piece marked molto of espr.
mu-
sic. My only reservation (veryis expressively),
due to with the concluding
the intentionalfermata in
character of music. That is, if
parentheses, the it
otherturns outslowly),
"Piu lento" (more that
its fermata marked
Schulhoff did in fact intend thislunga! piece (hold for a long time!). as
merely
Each bagatelle, though
a joke, and not to be performed, I only
would a single bar long, is
retract
printed
my claim that it is a piece of on music.
a separate page.
Yves Klein, much better Theknown as anotates
way in which Ligeti visual the twoand
silent
performance artist, was bagatelles
alsosuggests
thethat their content is indeed
composer of thethe
silence of the
Monotone-Silence Symphony. Theperformer,
final ratherversion
than the ambient of
the work, scored for a sounds
small in the environment. However,
orchestra andunlike the
choir,
case of Schulhoff's
consists of a D-major chord, to be Fiinf
heldPittoresken,
forit seems
five thatto
seven minutes, followed Ligeti's
by bagatelles
forty-four must all be played together. Aof
minutes
note on
silence. The history of the the first is
piece pagerather
of the score reads: "These
obscure,
particularly with respect'Bagatelles' should not be played
to whether it bywasheart.com-
The
end of each4'
posed before or after Cage's Bagatelle
33", is to be indicated
Klein by turn-
claimed
to have first had the idea in 1947 and worked ing the page. The end of the whole composition
is to be indicated by standing up and bowing to
out its final form in 1949, but there is little docu-
mentary evidence of this. It was orchestrated the
by audience."55 This suggests that, though con-
sisting of distinct movements, Ligeti's piece is, for
Pierre Henry in 1957, and was certainly premiered
in 1960 at Klein's show "Anthropometries of theour purposes, most like Klein's Monotone-Silence
Symphony, though the silences do not structure
Blue Period."51 It was also played at Klein's wed-
ding in 1962.52 the sounds of the piece, they are intended to be
Here, it seems, we do have a single work that heard in counterpoint to those sounds.56 As a re-
sult, this is not the perfect silent piece of music,
is only partially silent- the chord and the silence
are not distinct movements that might reasonably either (though an equally good test case for theo-
be performed separately. It is thus not a perfectries of musical silence).
example of a piece of silent music. It is, though,The second post-Cage silent piece I will dis-
cuss is my own Composition 2009 #5. Frustrated
arguably as difficult a case as a completely silent
piece for those who would defend the possibilityby ofthe lack of an ideal example to illustrate clearly
silent music. For it would be implausible to argue the possibility of silent music in a lecture-recital, I
that the silence here plays the traditional roleturnedof my hand to composition. In most fields of
musical silence, namely, structuring the musical philosophy, one must be content with hypotheti-
sounds. Thus the classification of Klein's piece cal as examples, but philosophers of the arts have the
a piece of music stands or falls, I would suggest, distinct advantage of being able to produce actual
with the possibility of completely silent pieces examples
of to illustrate their theories (or refute oth-
music.53 ers'). As is noted in discussions of the institutional
There are many silent pieces after 1952 (the theory of art, a single person can play many dis-
date of 4' 33"), but most seem to be heavily deriva- tinct institutional roles, and though I may not be a
tive on Cage's piece. This makes it difficult to tell very skilled composer, I think it is uncontroversial

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 Kania Silent Music 351

that I know enough

Musical Performance," Journal of Aestheticab
Educatio
cal works, (1997): 39-53.
whatever th
4. For an introduction to the range of purpose
to compose a truly sil
which internal silences can be put, see Jan Swaff
as follows:"Silence
"Indicate
Is Golden," Slate.com, August 31, 2009, a http
l
usual cues www.slate.com/id/2226630/.
with which
ning & end 5. How exactly
of these higher-level
a features of music de-
single
pend on lower-level features is a matter of some controversy,
content of this work is
of course.
any ambient noise.)"57
6. Levinson, "The Concept of Music," p. 270n3, original
sons I defend
emphasis. my own d
work is a piece
7. Levinson, "The Concept of Music,"of p. 270n3. See be- mu
low for a fuller consideration of 4' 33".
would also be committ
of music. 8. For a thorough consideration of what it is to hear
silence, see Roy Sorensen, "Hearing Silence: The Perception
Those who would
and Introspection resi
of Absences," in Sounds and Perception:
Composition 2009
New Philosophical #3
Essays, ed. Matthew Nudds and Casey to
face the O'Callaghan (Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 126-145.
challenge of a
9. Of course, some will be happy with a more subjective
can be part of tradition
conception of music. I have no hypothesis for why they have
jecting a piece that
not rejected the necessity of sound in their accounts of music.
co
Though one 10. A recent might
book-length consideration of the history, do
think it will be
nature, and influence of 4' 33" isdifficu
Kyle Gann, No Such Thing
purely as Silence: John Cage'spieces
silent 4'33" (Yale University Press, 2010). on
11. William Fetterman, John Cage's Theatre Pieces: No-
wants to allow the poss
tations and Performances (Amsterdam: Harwood Aca-
tal music, demic,
particularly
1996), pp. 69-70.
sounds, or 12.sounds
Fetterman, John Cage's Theatre Pieces, prod
p. 71.
must qualify 13. A performancethosealong the lines of the premiere
piecis
viewable on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
of any traditional musi
HypmW4Yd7SY.
that those14. Thoughsounds be
there is no dispute that the lengths of the
l
ence of hearing
movements were intended to add upthem) to four minutes and
that out in terms
thirty-three of
seconds, there is some dispute as to the particu-a
as in Levinson 's
lar lengths of the individual movements atdefin
this performance.
See Fetterman, John Cage's Theatre Pieces, p. 79.
musical features, as in
15. This score is reprinted in full in the journal Source:
no principled
Music of the Avant reason
Garde 1-2 (1967): 46-54. wh
or "second16. The order"
word 'tacet' is most commonly found in cond
musical
pure parts for ensemble works. It indicates that the instrument
silence.58
in question does not play anything in the entire movement.
There are actually two versions of this third score, but they
ANDREW KANIA differ only in that one is calligraphic, whereas the other is
Department of Philosophy typed. For more on the scores for 4'33" , including reproduc-
tions of parts of each, see Fetterman, John Cage's Theatre
Trinity University
Pieces, pp. 72-79.
San Antonio, Texas 78212 17. John Cage, 4' 33" (Glendale, NY: Edition Peters,
1960).
internet: akania@trinity.edu 18. For instance, in 1986 Cage said that whatever the
length of a particular performance, "it would still be called
4' 33"" (Fetterman, John Cage's Theatre Pieces, pp. 79-80).
He also implied that it does not have to be performed in
1. See, for example, Jerrold Levinson, "The a Concept
public setting,ofor with any of the conventional trappings
Music," in his Music, Art, and Metaphysics (Cornell Univer-
of musical performance. See Stephen Davies, "John Cage's
sity Press, 1990), pp. 267-278; Roger Scruton, The Aesthetics
4' 33": Is It Music?" Australasian Journal of Philosophy 75
(1997): Andrew
of Music (Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 16-18; 448-462, at pp. 450^51nl2, for the relevant quo-
Kania, "Philosophy of Music," in The Stanfordtation Encyclope-
and a different interpretation of these remarks. On
dia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Fall 2008 when a edition,
work of art is finished, see Paisley Livingston, Art
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/music/;
and Intention (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 53-61.
and Andy Hamilton, Aesthetics and Music (New York:
19. This conclusion depends on some kind of intention-
Continuum, 2007), pp. 40-65. alism regarding the content of musical works, but it would
2. Levinson, "The Concept of Music," p. 270n3. be defensible according to a wide range of intentionalist the-
3. Jennifer Judkins, "The Aesthetics of Silence ories in Live for example, hypothetical intentionalism).
(including,

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 352 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

20. In fact, the movements of along

something performances
the lines I have argued for of
above 4' 33"
(events
are typically framed by intended
silences in
to be listened to). the traditional
I am not sure if Levinson would
way. See, for example, the performance
consider by the BBC
this a friendly amendment, however.
Symphony Orchestra available 34. For on
instance,
YoirTube:
Cage said, "I have felt
http://www
and hoped to
.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHEZk6dSReI.
have led other people to feel that the sounds of their envi-
21. I ignore the complications of discussing
ronment constitute a music which is more intentions
interesting than
when both a composer and performer
the music which they would are hearinvolved. No ad-
if they went into a concert
hall" (quoted in Richard Kostelanetz,
equate theory of the work-performance relation Conversingwill
with Cage,
cause
problems for what I say about 2nd edition
4' 33" [New York: here. Routledge, 2003], p. 70), and "envi-
22. Levinson, "The Concept ronmental
of soundsMusic," and noises p. are more
270n3.useful aesthetically
Davies
considers a similar argument than the made
sounds produced by byNoel the world's Carroll when
musical cultures"
discussing whether 4' 33" is (quoted
art inof Michaelany Nyman, kind Experimental
(Davies,Music: Cage"John
and
Cage's 4' 33"? pp. 452-453). Beyond, 2nd edition [Cambridge University Press, 1999], p.
23. Davies, "John Cage's 4' 26). 33"" p. 455.
24. Davies, "John Cage's 4' 35.33"? Levinson, "Thepp. Concept452-453,
of Music," p. 275. 459-460.
25. Davies uses the term 36. 'ambient
Levinson, "The Concept ofsounds.'
Music," p. 272. I prefer
37. Levinson, "The Concept of Music,"
'noise' since the sounds of a performance ofp. 272.4' 33" are often
(usefully) described as ambient, 38. Andrewas Kania, "Definition," in The to
opposed Routledge Com-
intentionally
created. It is not clear to mepanion to why
Philosophy andDavies
Music. believes organi-
zation requires the possibility 39. These
ofterms are used in their
noises inmusical,
therather than
performance
environment. He claims thatphysical,
when senses. For you
instance, a "pitched"
listen sound is, to
roughly,a recording
of 4' 33" the ambient soundsoneof intended
your to have aliving
location within an octave. For
room more
should not
count as noise, though they on are these concepts,
not part see Davies,
of Musical Works and Perfor-
the performance
mances:
you are listening to. But he does notA Philosophical
provide Exploration (Oxford University
an argument for
Press,
this claim. While I think the 2001), pp.is
claim 47-60; Scruton, The Aesthetics
questionable, I of Music,
accept
it here for the sake of argument.
pp. 19-71; and Hamilton, Aesthetics and Music, pp. 119-152.
26. It is difficult to draw this40.line
By waywith
of analogy: you might look
absolute for the three-
precision.
dimensional
For instance, are the clackings of the image in what you takekeys
bassoon to be a "magic
part eye"of
the musical performance or unwanted
picture, noise?
only to discover that This
it is a hoax. But you ismight more
just
as easily
than an abstract philosophical engage in
issue iftheyou
same activity
areif a yousound
know there engi-
is no
neer. For some discussion of three-dimensional
this issue, see
image Jennifer Judkins,
there.
41. Kania, "Definition."
"Silence, Sound, Noise, and Music," in The Routledge Com-
panion to Philosophy and Music, 42. For an introduction
ed. Theodore to this field ofGracyk
aesthetic produc- and
tion, see Brandon LaBelle,
Andrew Kania (New York: Routledge, Background Noise: Perspectives
forthcoming).
27. Perhaps there can stillon Sound
be Art (New York: Continuum,
mistakes of this 2006). Andy
sort. Hamil-It
ton discusses the distinction
might be argued that the performer must between music and nonmusical
decide in advance
sound art
that her performance will take a in more depth in
certain his Aesthetics
length ofand time,
Music, pp. and
40-65.
could thus err in her judgment of the time elapsed, employ
a faulty stopwatch, or whatever.43. Stephen Davies has argued that we cannot listen ar-
28. Davies, "John Cage's 4' 33"?
tistically p. 457.
and purely Ittime.
at the same mightBut he wouldbe ar-
allow, I
gued that the performer who think, that we can
plays listen to sounds
Chopin isin so
an artistic or aesthetic
egregiously
fashionscore
ignoring the instructions in the without hearing
of 4' them under that
33" specifically
hemusical
failscon- to
cepts ("John
perform the work at all. If so, the Cage's
other 4' 33"? examples
pp. 45(M53). I consider
44. Alphonse
should be sufficient for the points I Allais,
want (Euvres
toPosthumes,
make.ed. Francois
Caradec and
29. At least, this was the point ofPascal
the Pia (Paris:
Cage La Table
who Ronde, 1966), vol.
composed
2, pp. 380-381.
4' 33" in 1952. As Davies points out, Cage's attitude toward
his own piece changed rather45. Allais, (Euvres Posthumes,over
dramatically p. 380. The original
the French
course
of his life ("John Cage's 4' reads:
33"? "L'auteur
p. de449n5).
cette Marche funebre
Fors'est inspire, dans
evidence of
Cage's intentions in writingsa4'composition,
33", see de ce principe,
Davies, accepte"John
par tout le monde,
Cage's
que les grandes
4' 33"? pp. 448-453, and Gann, No douleurs
Such sont muettes. Cesas
Thing grandes douleurs
Silence.
etant muettes, speculative
30. I do not think it is hopelessly les executants devront uniquement
to asks'occuper
what
Cage's attitude toward these a compter des mesures, scenarios
different au lieu de se livrerwould
a ce tapage be.
Anyway, anyone who has come indecent quithis
retire tout
farcaractere
inauguste
theaux meilleures is
debate
committed to the relevance obseques."
of Cage's intentions to the issues
at hand. 46. In fact, "rigolando" is neither a French nor an Italian
31. Davies, "John Cage's 4' 33"? p. 458. word. It seems to be Allais's transformation of the French
32. Gann suggests that a more accurate epithet for "rigoler" (to laugh) into an Italianate form suitable for a
Cage's work than "Silent Sonata" would be "Unintended musical tempo or expression indication.
Noise Sonata" (No Such Thing as Silence, p. 163). 47. The parallels between these visual artworks and Yves
33. Levinson, "The Concept of Music," p. 273. The num- Klein's monochrome paintings are intriguing, given Klein's
bering of the conditions is mine; one could divide up the composition of a semi-silent piece, discussed below. The first
necessary conditions in other ways. Clearly, we could re- reproductions of Klein's works, in a pamphlet titled Yves
place Levinson's first condition (sounds-and-silence) with Peintures, were preceded by a preface consisting of pages

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 Kania Silent Music 353

of blank lines, reminiscent

55. To enable the page turns, the first two bagatelles are o
Pierre Restany, printed on the rectos of two pages,Klein,
Yves with the verso between tr
Harry N. the two left blank. Ironically,
Abrams, 1982], the publisher has addedpp. the 2
independent following boilerplate to the verso: "This
evidence page is left blank to
connect
48. Nonetheless, save an unnecessaryapagegroupturn!" Au contraire. has
(under the 56. Ligeti provides an optional of
direction fourth bagatelle as a pos-
Ismael
in Nice in sible encore. It I
2000). consists
usemerely of a sixteenth-note
the (semi- scar
such a quaver) rest, at the tempo of the
performance is first bagatelle.
possible Presumably
one for this could be played alone, particularly as
performance. In an encore,con
as I
description ofsuggested
the with respect to "In futurum," above.
march as a
"The Stylish 57. The concluding parenthetical
Small Change sentence is an explana- of
New York Times, Sunday,
tory note, rather than an instruction to the performer.Apr The
49. title is in homage to La Monte Young's.
"ZeitmaB-zeitlos. series.tutto
of Composi-
sentimento adtions libitum,
1960. The first two pieces in my seriessempre
were created as
50. For a jokecounterexamples
bearing to Jerrold Levinson's assertion that tem-
some
piece, see Gann,poral organization
No is a necessary
Suchcondition on being Thin
music.
51. The piece The first seems
instructs the performer to "Play never
or sing a single
an autonomous work,
note as briefly but
and quietly as possible, consistent with the fac
the score are printed
result being audible to the audience." The in Res
second instructs
Yves Klein 1928-1962:
the performer to "Play an exquisite chord"A in theRetro
same way.
Arts, Rice The first two pieces were premiered on
University Tiiesday, September Yo
(New
p. 196. My 15, 2009, at a lecture-recital
brief history on the nature of music, ofgiven at th
these two sources. See,
Trinity University, San Antonio. in
The third has had no public par
pp. 110,244-246. performance yet.
52. Restany, 58. Thanks to Julie Post,
Yves Nanette LeCoat, Michael p.
Klein, Ward, 23
53. A more conventional
Thomas Sebastian, and Judith Norman for help with trans- ex
opening measure
lation; to an anonymous of reviewer forBritten'
the journal for some
and strings, helpful suggestions;
op. 2, and to my commentator, Lee
which Brown,
consi
four musicians. and the audience at a session where I presented part of
54. For a consideration of many of these, see Gann, No this article at the Pacific Division meeting of the American
Such Thing as Silence, pp. 188-213. Society for Aesthetics (Asilomar, California, April 2010).

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