Reading Joyceâs Dubliners for the first time and it led me towards a train of thought that ended improbably at âwow, but composersâ Wikipedia pages can give you really inaccurate idea of what their music is like, and you can only get how misleading it is if you know enough to not need the Wikipedia pageâ
I remember being a teen and reading Sofia Gubaidulinaâs wiki page which, at the time, not only talked about her symphony as if it was The Most central piece sheâd written, but also described her entire musical style as âinnovative in how it uses silenceâ.
Like... I can see that being a quote pulled from a review of someone attending Gubaidulinaâs symphony, because of that memorable moment in the symphony when the conductor is conducting a silent orchestra. But that doesnât describe her music at all. You might as well say âGerard Griseyâs music is innovative in how it uses silence!â based on the last minute of Partiels where a cymbalist dramatically draws their cymbals apart instead of crashing them together! The theater of it! (Also, the cuteness of the score!)
To wrap up this thought, however:Â
When thinking about composers who are actually innovative in how they use silence, my answer is Toru Takemitsu.
The more you listen to his music and the more you read his writings, the clearer it is how much weight he gave to silence, and space, within the texture of his music.
