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This dissertation considers performed silences in composed music and suggests that musicians often use markers to communicate the dimensions of silence. These markers may shape, summon, or impose silence. Markers are signals or cues that may be visible, audible, or multimodal. This research consists of an archive of examples from the author's pianistic practice, as well as three case studies drawn from works of Beethoven, Cage, and Antheil. Full title: "Performing Musical Silence: Markers, Gestures, and Embodiments"

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Guy Livingston - Performing Musical Silence - 2025

  • Contents
    • ---DISSERTATION TOC---
    • 1. Introduction
    • 2. Markers, Dimensions, Notations
    • 2.1 Introduction
    • 2.2 Markers
    • 2.3 Markers and Framing
    • 2.4 Eloquence
    • 2.5 Dimensions
    • 3. The Noisy Archive
    • 3.1 Integrated Silences
    • 3.1.1 Chopin: Nocturne
    • 3.1.2 Crumb: Vox Balaenae
    • 3.1.3 Johnson: Imaginary Music
    • 3.1.4 Robert Eidschun: Specks
    • 3.1.5 Feldman: Intermission 6
    • 3.1.6 Chouillet: Je me souviens n°4
    • 3.2 Inherent Silences
    • 3.2.1 Cage: 4’33”
    • 3.2.2 Jallén: Solokonsert för dirigent
    • 3.2.3 Schulhoff: In futurum
    • 3.3 Silent Discourse
    • 3.3.1 Schumann: Humoreske
    • 3.3.2 Dramm: Ruby
    • 3.3.3 Andriessen: Not [an] Anfang
    • 3.3.4 Satie: Avant-dernières pensées
    • 3.4 Meta-silences
    • 3.4.1 Pärt and Renaissance Vocal Music
    • 3.4.2 Bruckner/Mahler/Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
    • 3.4.3 AMM: Final Performance
    • 3.4.4 Adams: China Gates
    • 3.4.5 de Clercq: 24 means to an end
    • 3.4.6 Shockley: Cold Springs Branch, 10 p.m.
    • 3.5 Silencings
    • 3.5.1 Johnson: Lecture with Repetition
    • 3.5.2 Z: Notice of Baggage Inspection
    • 3.5.3 Anderson: Watermelon Revisited
    • 3.5.4 Kourliandski: Surface
    • 3.5.5 Hinton: Piece of Cake
    • 3.5.6 Failure
    • 4. Case Study: Audible Markers in 4'33"
    • 4.1 A Checklist
    • 4.2 Waveforms
    • 4.3 Examples
    • 4.4 A new checklist
    • 5. Case Study: Visible Markers in Beethoven's opus 111
    • 5.1 The Sonata
    • 5.2 Examples
    • 5.3 Embodiments
    • 6. Case Study: Notational Markers in Antheil's Ballet mécanique
    • 6.1 On Ballet mécanique
    • 6.2 The Rests
    • 6.3 Performing with Ballet Zürich
    • 6.4 Markers
    • 7. Conclusion
    • 7.1 Conceptual Contributions
    • 7.2 Practical Contributions
    • 7.3 Future Ideas
    • 7.4 Coda
    • References
    • Appendix: experimentations
    • Glossary
    • Summary/Samenvatting
    • Guy Livingston
  • Meta
  • Comments
  • Terms
  • contents
    • ---DISSERTATION TOC---
    • 1. Introduction
    • 2. Markers, Dimensions, Notations
    • 2.1 Introduction
    • 2.2 Markers
    • 2.3 Markers and Framing
    • 2.4 Eloquence
    • 2.5 Dimensions
    • 3. The Noisy Archive
    • 3.1 Integrated Silences
    • 3.1.1 Chopin: Nocturne
    • 3.1.2 Crumb: Vox Balaenae
    • 3.1.3 Johnson: Imaginary Music
    • 3.1.4 Robert Eidschun: Specks
    • 3.1.5 Feldman: Intermission 6
    • 3.1.6 Chouillet: Je me souviens n°4
    • 3.2 Inherent Silences
    • 3.2.1 Cage: 4’33”
    • 3.2.2 Jallén: Solokonsert för dirigent
    • 3.2.3 Schulhoff: In futurum
    • 3.3 Silent Discourse
    • 3.3.1 Schumann: Humoreske
    • 3.3.2 Dramm: Ruby
    • 3.3.3 Andriessen: Not [an] Anfang
    • 3.3.4 Satie: Avant-dernières pensées
    • 3.4 Meta-silences
    • 3.4.1 Pärt and Renaissance Vocal Music
    • 3.4.2 Bruckner/Mahler/Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
    • 3.4.3 AMM: Final Performance
    • 3.4.4 Adams: China Gates
    • 3.4.5 de Clercq: 24 means to an end
    • 3.4.6 Shockley: Cold Springs Branch, 10 p.m.
    • 3.5 Silencings
    • 3.5.1 Johnson: Lecture with Repetition
    • 3.5.2 Z: Notice of Baggage Inspection
    • 3.5.3 Anderson: Watermelon Revisited
    • 3.5.4 Kourliandski: Surface
    • 3.5.5 Hinton: Piece of Cake
    • 3.5.6 Failure
    • 4. Case Study: Audible Markers in 4'33"
    • 4.1 A Checklist
    • 4.2 Waveforms
    • 4.3 Examples
    • 4.4 A new checklist
    • 5. Case Study: Visible Markers in Beethoven's opus 111
    • 5.1 The Sonata
    • 5.2 Examples
    • 5.3 Embodiments
    • 6. Case Study: Notational Markers in Antheil's Ballet mécanique
    • 6.1 On Ballet mécanique
    • 6.2 The Rests
    • 6.3 Performing with Ballet Zürich
    • 6.4 Markers
    • 7. Conclusion
    • 7.1 Conceptual Contributions
    • 7.2 Practical Contributions
    • 7.3 Future Ideas
    • 7.4 Coda
    • References
    • Appendix: experimentations
    • Glossary
    • Summary/Samenvatting
    • Guy Livingston
  • abstract
    This dissertation considers performed silences in composed music and suggests that musicians often use markers to communicate the dimensions of silence. These markers may shape, summon, or impose silence. Markers are signals or cues that may be visible, audible, or multimodal. This research consists of an archive of examples from the author's pianistic practice, as well as three case studies drawn from works of Beethoven, Cage, and Antheil. Full title: "Performing Musical Silence: Markers, Gestures, and Embodiments"
  • Guy Livingston - Performing Musical Silence - 2025
  • Meta
  • Comments
  • Terms