...had a strong belief that every sound should be considered as a form of music. By combining his theories of invention with his compositional techniques he led music into the modern world. Many music critics have suggested that Cage was more of an inventor rather than a composer. Speaking on Cage, Arnold Schoenberg (1994) states “Of course he's not a composer, but he's an inventor -- of genius” (Perloff & Junkerman, P 157). Whether an inventor or composer, there is no denying that Cage’s composition “4.33” also known as “four and a half minutes of silence” has led to considerable controversy. It has also forced us to look closely at the definition of music. The 1952 piece, in which performer David Tudor sat at the piano for four minutes and thirty-three seconds marking off the time in three movements but did not play a single note, tested the idea that there is no such thing as silence. Cage (1988) claims that “Everything we do is music" and “try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.”(Kostelanetz, 1988, P69-70). I intend to examine “4.33” and determine whether it is possible for us to appreciate Cage’s ideology and hear the music in his favourite composition. Cage was heavily influenced by the eastern philosophy and it taught him to perceive music in a whole new light. Cage’s idea for 4.33 however, emerged after his experience at Harvard University where he spent time in and anechoic chamber (a room designed to stop reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves) and...
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...Assessment of silence and the notion of commons In her essay, silence and the notion of commons, Ursula Franklin discusses the influence of technology on silence and the values of silence we have lost sight of. She claims that before we had “a technologically mediated society” sound was ephemeral and silence was once taken for granted(375). However, advancements in technology have made it possible to multiply sound and make sound permanent thereby proliferating the amount of sound in the environment. Now silence is now seen as a common good because it has become scarce. She writes that silence is important because it creates an “enabling environment” for “unprogrammable and unprogrammed things” to happen (376). She says it also helps to maintain our “collective sanity”. There is also a power in collective silence that tends towards the spiritual. “It is an enormously powerful event”, she says. She illustrates that the Quakers (a christian faction) upheld the tradition of collective silence and in their meetings and they experience a kind of parapsychological event in which one person speaks what’s in another's mind. She calls it an “uncanny thing”(376).She also admonishes us to beware of programmed silence, that is, silence that allows a planned event to take place because this silence is enforced and unreal. She believes that programmed sound is manipulative and imposed on us. The music in shoe stores or restaurants as imposed on us and they try to manipulate us to patronize...
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...Hoynes, Christine E. “The sound of Silence: Interpreting Mark 16:1-8” through the Centuries. Interpretation 65, no. 1(January 2011): 18-29. Introduction The ending of Jesus’s story in the Gospels is well-known. However, what we know as the ending of Mark’s Gospel was added after the original had written. As a matter of fact, Mark put such an abrupt ending for some reason. This absence has led to diverse interpretations and understandings, not only among theologians but also among artists through the history. Christine Hoyneys in her article The sound of Silence: Interpreting Mark shows the various interpretations on women’s silence in a wider context. Summary To begin with the author indicates the discrepancies and...
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...SOUNDS OF SILENCE Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence "Fools", said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops fell And echoed In the wells of silence And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence IMPOSSIBLE DREAM To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear the unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To write the unwritable wrong To be better far than you are To try when your arms are too weary The reach the unreachable star ...
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...According to Barsam and Monahan, silence can also be used as a form of sound. “When so used, silence frustrates our normal perceptions.” (para. 3, 383). Jean-Pierre Jeunet used silence as a way to make the “Speechless Kiss” scene more profound and poetic. The scene begins with Nino entering Amelie’s apartment. The only diegetic sounds are their footsteps and their respiration. The silence is then interrupted with a loud noise occurring from the closure of the front door. “With carefully interplay between sound and silence, a filmmaker can produce a new rhythm for the film” (para. 3, 383). Silence speaks louder than words and this unique scene represents that both have gained the courage to be together despite not speaking to each other. Silence...
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...Orson Welles used various sounds to create and manage the dramatic tension in the 60-minute drama. I will be exploring in detail the use of the orchestra, the medium used to present the broadcast to the viewers and lastly the use of sound and silence to maximize the effect. The time slot in which the broadcast took place was one of the main parts of the entire story. Welles scheduled the broadcast to take place during one of the most prime slots on radio when other popular shows we’re changing causing them to switch over. Welles started the broadcast with a piece from a live orchestra, which roughly lasted around 3:34. This was then interrupted with a news broadcast of explosions happening on the planet Mars that...
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...Discuss the use of the voice in Spike Jonze’s film ‘her’ as a primary carrier of narrative and consider its relationship to image in the film. Not so long ago, sound was not considered as a significant medium in the media industry. However in 1936 Rudolf Arnheim put together a book, which helped unveil the amounts of unseen potential that were in radio. Subsequently, rather than writing the sound medium out of movies, filmmakers started to realize the essentiality of sound in film, and how effective it is whether it is evident or not. (Arnheim, 1936) Early 2014, Spike Jonze constructed a highly complex movie in which he has set sound as a primary carrier of narrative in ways that are unfamiliar and unique in comparison to most movies seen today. As soon as the movie begins, it starts becoming more and more evident that it will not be a highly visual piece, as it will be more led by story. The movie is set in the near future and revolves around a sensitive and soulful man that earns his living by writing personal letters for people. He is left devastated after he separates from his wife and gradually becomes obsessed with a new complicated operating system, which is highly intuitive and can develop its own separate entity by evolving through space and time. He launches the program and meets Samantha a playful and friendly voice that is acted by Scarlet Johansson. Which is an operating system that consists of an earpiece and a small screen, the size of a cardholder. Throughout...
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...replacing face-to-face social interaction and is leaving a gap between the real world and the virtual world. The encounter of technology has always been a big topic in Ray Bradbury’s writing. In the “Fog Horn” Ray Bradbury manifests through the characters of McDunn and a sea creature that the side effects of technology lead to loneliness, resulting in destruction and anger. To begin, we are set in a background with an eerie lighthouse which is meant to portray loneliness and confinement. For example, the story starts, “OUT there in the cold water, far from land.” Shortly after, Bradbury expresses the mindsets of the characters as “Feeling like two birds in the grey sky” (Bradbury p.1). These...
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...single radio. Sounds and noises coming from twelve different radios that often change channels and volume would lead the average person to think that they are standing in the audio section of an electronics store. It turns out that twelve radios can actually make music, at least according to John Cage: “When I wrote the Imaginary Landscape for twelve radios, it was not meant for the purpose of shock or as a joke…” Unfortunately, some people do take it as a joke. However, it is likely because they do not fully understand Cage’s composition style. John Cage’s composition style, especially with this piece, is unique to say the least. His different approach to composing, especially after 1950, sets him apart from most composers. So where exactly does he fit? Charles Hamm ultimately describes Cage’s compositions following 1950, including Imaginary Landscape No. 4, as “postmodern,” even though Cage himself did not use this word to describe his works. Early in his career, Cage occasionally used the term “modern music” when referring to works composed in the first half of the twentieth century. However, as Hamm points out, Cage began...
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...The book The Chosen by Chaim Potok presents a main theme of silence. People can convey words that hurt, or that indicate happiness-but silence says a mass more. In a situation where one goes without words, they could demonstrate truly any emotion that they feel. When a person is hurt, they may go without speaking by reason of there being nothing left to say, or it hurts too much to speak about it. At the same time, silence could also present love. For example, just simply looking at a person a certain way, can capture their attention to the deep meaning of what one wants to say. In other words, silence could display pain, but also love, and sound louder than words while doing so. Believe it or not, you can sense more pain through silence than anything else. Almost as if silence speaks to a person’s heart, as opposed to their ears. It comes as a rush of emotions that are strong, almost as if heard. “You have to want to listen to it, and then you can hear it. … It doesn't always talk. Sometimes-sometimes it cries, and you can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then, but you have to.” To emphasize, a person’s heart can...
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...The essay titled “The Price We Pay” written by Adam Mayblum, the author details his personal experience of escape from the World Trade Towers on September 11th. As I read this detailed account of his escape, I am emotionally affected. I am humbled to read acts of bravery, selflessness and teamwork. We see accounts of how Adam, himself, constantly puts himself in immediate danger to go back and help others descend from the building. He recalls how he went back to the 85th floor, after initially leaving, to go back and find one of his partners. He stops to account for his officemates, along with shepherding people out into safety. Throughout the narration, he is constantly reaching out to others to help them. He sees an associate stuck in the stairwell and asks him if he needs help and offers to help carry him. We see the selflessness of the firemen and police, who ascend the stairs to help others. Despite the smoke, fire and destruction around, they go without hesitation to help others. We also see acts of teamwork, in which everyone is trying hard to escape the building together. They are using a system of communication and touch, to blindly escape through the debris from the building. As I read these various accounts from the essay, I hold back tears. To see such courageous humanity, where you would think people would only care of their own safety, he shows us how we pull together to help each other. Such acts show us examples of humanity and love that cannot be destroyed, even...
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..."She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderss, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city" – Roman Payne, The Wanderess. The two authors of "Ain't I a Woman" and "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" have described the rights of women and also represented to speak up for them. In both essays, the topic of race and the manner of respective for women are both discussed. Sojourner Truth, the author of "Ain't I a Woman", was speaking to the women's rights convention on her experiences and sufferings were just not only a woman in the society that day but as a black woman. She used her own personal experience and Biblical references to connect with the audience and incite both on a personal and emotional level. By sharing personal experiences, using the repetitive language, and making the references in the Bible, Sojourner Truth has connected her emotional with the audience to effectively call a sense of power to overcome racial inequality and gender. "Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed, and planted, and...
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...Caroline Merrick Instructor Mason ENG 231-352 9 October 2014 The Many Sides of Death The world has forever struggled to understand the complex and thoughtful mind of the poet Emily Dickinson. For most of her life she remained a recluse, isolated from society, and left to do what she loved to do, which was write. Dickinson witnessed a lot of hardships in her later years, including the deaths of many family members and friends. Witnessing so much death in her lifetime sparked her interest in the concept of mortality, and it appears as a major theme in many of her poems. Dickinson seemed to have many different ideas about the subject of death. Three poems that represent these different viewpoints on the subject are “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died,” “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” and “I felt a Funeral in my Brain.” Although all of these poems are about death, each of them represents it in a different way. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is a representation of one of Emily Dickinson’s views of death. This poem emphasizes the journey that one takes from life to eternity. This journey is represented as a carriage ride with death. Death in this poem is personified and appears as a kindly gentlemen who was courteous enough to stop for the narrator when she was too busy to stop for him. On the carriage ride, Death takes the narrator through scenes of her childhood. In lines nine through twelve, “We passed the School, where Children strove/ At Recess-in the...
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...The Silence of The Lambs: Film Critique Midari Marrero ENG 225 Intro to Film Instructor: Julie Pal-Agrawal June 25, 2012 It is uncommon in our day to find horror movies that can compare to the critically acclaimed film of Jonathan Demme's 1991 The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the infamous and psychotic cannibal psychiatrist. This movie, along with Alfred Hitchock's Psycho (1960), is one of limited horror/suspense films recognized by movie critics as one of the greatest American films ever made. Critics had much to say about the “commercialization” of one of the most horrifyingly amazing characters in the history of American theatre, but even more interesting is the change that is specified through the character's approval in mainstream culture. Hannibal Lecter is a different type of monstrous cannibal than those formerly seen in horror films, as shown through his criminal activities, and has been acknowledged by its viewers as an “anti-hero” as opposed to the adversary or antagonist of the movie. The story line behind this movie captured the audience to want to watch this disgusting anti-human film, which included cannibalism. Everyone that was involved in the creation of this film from the film director, cinematographer, art editors, sound directors, the costumes the staging everyone had to be in that same dark place in order to make this a captivating need to watch film. In the following pages I would like to describe scenes...
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...increasing sounds of whirring engines and the dull roar of never-ending road traffic. The potent smells of fuel and exhaust blow across my position followed by the putrid smells of burning rubber and hot brake material. It is night and the stars are as bright, making the world seem like such a small and insignificant place. Aircraft pass over, giving off their locations with small flashing lights and harsh, powerful noise. Condensation collects on the grass, wetting my shoes with its moisture, making things slippery and cold. The wind can be heard rustling over the large, towing concrete and metal building behind me. The sounds of shuffling feet and objects being carried or dragged are heard in the slight silence. I cannot place the location of the shuffling as it is off in the darkness, too far away to scale its distance or direction or if it is something to be concerned with. Description #2 As the cool air is brought in with the night, sounds of aircraft wafting through the air and automobiles scurrying their way along their paths fill the air. The day’s operations are ceasing and the smells of equipment being shut down and vehicles coming to a halt are dwindling with time. The night begins to offer its nightly starlight show, with millions of quaint, twinkling stars like a distant fireworks show happening so far away. The breeze brings cool air and moist condensation to the densely inhabited area making everything around shimmer in the sparse moonlight. The sounds of people...
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