4'33'' by John Cage – When Silence Becomes Audible

Considering that, as the musical piece is being performed, the audience as well as the entire orchestra make a great effort to remain as silent as possible, trying to prevent themselves from making any slight noise and, for the most part, only allowing themselves to cough or sneeze during the short breaks of the conductor turning over the pages of the note sheets, it indicates that there is more to it than the mere hearable sounds emitted by all those present. In addition to the sounds that can be heard by everyone, there are also the types of sounds that are only audible to those listeners who are able to produce their very own sounds in their minds. In a way, John Cage’s composition 4'33'' invites the audience on an imaginary journey to discover music in a completely new and innovative manner that gives them the possibility to step into the roles of both composer and musician in order to create and play the music that they invent by themselves. 

 

In an orchestra, using the example from the video, 4'33'' can be perceived from three different perspectives – those of the audience, the musicians who play the instruments and the conductor who guides them. Since the orchestra is silent for the entire duration of the musical piece, the audience is free to choose what they wish to hear. Some can participate in an audiation journey with ease and let their imagination wander freely but others, however, find it difficult to do so and let themselves get distracted quickly. 4'33'' inspires the listeners to imagine all sorts of sounds their imaginative power permits them to come up with. Everyone’s auditory experience depends on their individual preferences as every single one of them favors various tones and sounds. The audience could probably imagine hearing the orchestra playing as a whole. They might think about the melody, instruments and volume but also what kind of emotions they want to be expressed according to their expectations and what they find appealing. 

 

It is surely quite different for the musicians and the conductor. It should be significantly easier for them to form an imaginary musical work because they are accustomed to have music playing in their heads. Perhaps each musician feels inclined to think of melodies they could play with their particular instrument and how the other musicians could join in with their instruments to match to the music. As the leader of the orchestra, the conductor most likely imagines directing a desired musical performance that should be played by the ensemble, being in control of the tempo and meter. The video shows the musicians’ and the conductor’s focused facial expressions despite them holding a set position and not playing any music. Contrary to expectations, the orchestra is entirely silent, not doing what they are supposed to but nevertheless doing exactly what they are meant to do according to their sheet music.  

 

I believe that having the ability to imagine a musical piece is extremely valuable and although at first it must be confusing and strange to experience a silent composition, at some point the listeners might devote themselves to the moment and start playing imaginary music in their minds. For certain people this will work immediately and smoothly but for several others it may take longer or will not work at all and yet they can still listen to the numerous real audible sounds in the theater or opera house that are all the more perceptible in such an unusual silence. Everyone can let 4'33'' work on them in their own ways.