Silent Music

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68 (4):343-353 (2010)
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Abstract

In this essay, I investigate musical silence. I first discuss how to integrate the concept of silence into a general theory or definition of music. I then consider the possibility of an entirely silent musical piece. I begin with John Cage’s 4′33″, since it is the most notorious candidate for a silent piece of music, even though it is not, in fact, silent. I conclude that it is not music either, but I argue that it is a piece of non-musical sound art, rather than simply a piece of theatre, as Stephen Davies has argued. I end with consideration of several other candidates for entirely silent pieces, concluding that two of these are in fact pieces of music consisting entirely of silence.

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Andrew Kania
Trinity University

Citations of this work

Organized Sound, Sounds Heard, and Silence.Douglas C. Wadle - 2023 - Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 10.
A Return to Musical Idealism.Wesley D. Cray & Carl Matheson - 2017 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 95 (4):702-715.
What 4′33″ Is.Julian Dodd - 2018 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 96 (4):629-641.
The philosophy of music.Andrew Kania - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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References found in this work

Definition.Kania Andrew - 2011 - In Theodore Gracyk & Andrew Kania (eds.), Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music. New York, USA: Routledge. pp. 3-13.
Silence, Sound, Noise, and Music.Jennifer Judkins - 2011 - In Theodore Gracyk & Andrew Kania (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music. Routledge. pp. 14.
The Aesthetics of Silence in Live Musical Performance.Jennifer Judkins - 1997 - The Journal of Aesthetic Education 31 (3):39.

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