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theses

In Western common practice music, the concept of silence is considered a background against which sound is perceived. For some twentieth-century composers, however, silence becomes an important element in their music, as a new and inventive way of conceiving of sound. The purpose of this study is to investigate what makes twentieth-century composers, in particular John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, and Salvatore Sciarrino, interested in silence, and what influences this has on their musical philosophies. I also discuss what kinds of musical devices and effects they use to emphasize silence in their music and how silence may be conveyed through sound. I begin in Chapter 1 with a review of research that discusses musical silence generally, as well its employment by specific composers. I provide a historical review of the concept of silence and important figures whose music was influenced by silence. Following this, I delineate the terminology of ‘silence’ in this dissertation. I then discuss Cage’s use of silence. Cage’s concept of silence developed through his interest in non-conventional sound, the events he experienced, philosophies and books he studied, including Zen, and people he met beginning in the late 1930s. These helped Cage acknowledge that there is no absolute silence in the world; for him, sound and silence are on a single continuum. In Chpater 2, I introduce Takemitsu’s musical background, which comprises both Western experimental music and the influence of the Japanese spatial concept ma, I then explore types of silence Takemitsu employs, including long pauses, decay, and single-note utterances. Follow this, I use these concepts to analyze the structure of silence in Garden Rain. Takemitsu treats and designs silence as sound in Garden Rain and the aesthetics and function of ma are applied to his use of silence. Chapter 3 explores Sciarrino’s use of extremely soft sound which lies at the border between silence and sound, against Darmstadt composers’ aesthetics. It is conveyed by musical silence through extended techniques rather than conventional techniques, extreme dynamics, and extreme range. Through an analysis of Infinito Nero, based on the mystical utterance of Saint Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi, we see how Sciarrino describes the silence of Maria and the surrounding ambient sound by using non-conventional techniques. Finally, I compare the use of silence by Cage, Takemitsu, and Sciarrino.

ETD_8554

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Chung Eun Kim

doi:10.7282/T3BV7KT8

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.