Skip to main content

The Rest

Years ago, at Carnegie Hall a piano recital premiere was being presented.  The pianist sat down, raised his hands over the keyboard, sat immobile for three minutes, then lowered his hands and got up to bow and receive his applause.
The composer, John Cage, explained to the puzzled reporters, "Music is composed of two elements: notes and rests.  Bach, Mozart and Beethoven have written music made entirely of notes, so I composed one piece entirely of rests."
Though no one would want to sit through such  concert, Cage was making an important statement about music: the silences are just as important and the sounds.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Contact

“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?

Speech

  “To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.”     John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent.  Life teaches many lessons.  Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied.  Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.    

The Price of Misjudgment

“If a man does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.” – Nachman of Bratslav ”If I do not accept responsibility for the evil I do, the very earth will rise up to judge and condemn me. The stars, the trees in the wind will provide sentence…”   -Julius Lester