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Fri 30 May, 2008 09:25 am
My friend loaded a Barenaked Ladies record onto my iPod and I listened to it while walking the dog yesterday.
There is a lovely little lullabye on there called "When You Dream" and it is followed by a long stretch of silence. It took me a bit to realize there was silence.
I thought something was wrong with my iPod... but no... it was still playing. So I back up and listen to the song again and the silence is really effective.
I still don't know if it's supposed to be there but I really like it.
Is it supposed to be there?
Do you know any other songs that use long stretches of silence?
There's Billy Joel's "River of Dreams," where the grand pause preceding the line "In the middle of the night..." gets progressively longer with each strophe. By the last one, the pause has gotten so long that you can never really tell when the song is gonna resume.
Joel himself poked fun at the unnaturally long stretches of silence during
his performance at the 1994 Grammys... check it out at about the 2:55 mark.
Boomer, I think the silences in music are as important as the notes.
A pause gives a listener a chance to catch up, to breath, to let the previous notes to echo and linger, waiting for the music to begin again.
They can be happy surprises or they add to the drama of the music, giving one a moment to realize and anticipate the inevitable ending.
Silences add character to the music and make it, in a way, more intimate.
At least that's my take. I hope more people post here with a better knowledge of music, especially classical music.
I love Billy Joel.
Had to rock out to that video.
In radio they refer to that as "dead air".
The most wellknow piece of 'silence' in music probably is John Cage's 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. (More at
wikipedia)
You mean the song named " "?
cjhsa wrote:You mean the song named " "?
I don't know that nor could I find info about it.
Sorry, for that Cyrillic sounding "name" - that was meant to be " 4'32" ", see the linked wikipedia report.
You mean
4'33", though Cage has said that the piece can be performed for any length of time by any number of musicians.
In classical music, one of my favorite uses of silence comes at the very end of
"Mars" from Holst's Planets.
Less menacing and more exhilarating is the very end of the last movement of
Sibelius's Fifth Symphony.
Great song by Todd Snider about a band that doesn't play, was a hidden track on his CD.
http://artists.letssingit.com/todd-snider-lyrics-talkin-seattle-grunge-rock-blues-75dq622
Take the time to read all the lyrics or listen to the song if you can.
Quote:now to fit in on the seattle scene
you've gotta do somethin' they ain't never seen
so thinkin' up a gimmick one day
we decided to be the only band that wouldn't play a note
under any circumstances
silence
music's original alternative
root's grunge
sounds somewhat like "songs without words" - see below .
Quote:Songs without Words
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words) is a series of eight musical volumes consisting of six "songs" each (a total of 48) written for the solo piano by Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn.
These eight works were written at various points throughout his life as music that amateur pianists could perform. The piano became increasingly popular during this era, where it became the focal point of many households.
These works were part of the Romantic tradition of writing short lyrical pieces for the piano.
The 8 Volumes
The first volume of songs, Opus 19, was composed between 1830-32.
The second volume of songs, Opus 30, was composed in 1835. In both of the first two volumes, Mendelssohn gave the 6th song the title Venezianisches Gondellied (Venetian Gondelier's Song).
The third volume of songs, Opus 38, was published in 1837. Song number 6 was given the title Duetto by Mendelssohn, since two melodies were written to represent two singers.
The fourth volume of songs, Opus 53, was composed in 1841.
The fifth volume of songs, Opus 62, was composed in 1844. It contains a further Venezianisches Gondellied and the so-called Spring Song.
The sixth volume of songs, Opus 67, was published in 1845. Song number 4, Spinnerlied (Spinner's Song), has also been given the nickname the "Bee's Wedding" as it resembles the buzzing of bees.
The seventh volume of songs, Opus 85, was published posthumously.
The eighth and final volume of songs, Opus 102, was composed in 1845.
ps. even i can sing those songs without damaga to anyone's ears :wink:
I can see that I have some listening to do which sounds kind of funny when you're talking about silence. I also hear that I have some reading to do! Thank you all.
That Billy Joel clip was funny. I imagine that some director asked him to cut the silent bits out as not to waste valuable advertising moments. I'm glad he didn't butcher his song to accomodate them.
I like your take on this, Diane. "Linger" is exactly what happened to me while listening to the silent part of the song.
I think silence is a very effective tool. An sudden silence can be really profound, especially after a loud, many-layered section.
It doesn't even have to be in music. I saw a movie today (not going to say which... kind of embarassing) which had a period of silence in the middle of a loud and chaotic battle.
Theres a neat version of "The Next Time Im in Town", a song written by Chet Atkins and the version was performed by Chet ATkins and Mark Knopfler. Ther was a long pause in the last repeat chorus where the music stopped, a pause ensued and then Knoplfler and Atkins sung the final chorus a capella. Really neat.
Walter Piston and John CAge did that as a device in their "classical cacophany crap". I never got it so I just used Cage as an example of a mispent life.
Love Barenaked Ladies. They were the last Canadian rock group since the old "Calgary Stampeders" who I liked. You can see that there were many years of quiet in between. In those years I was a big Stan Rodgers fan.
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