The feeling of being lost in translation’ is not necessarily related to staying in a foreign country and not speaking the language. Many times we feel lost communicating with familiar people and in familiar places, which often leaves us with only one solution – to be quiet. However, even then we are trying to use that silence as a lifeline hoping that it will be louder than all the possible words said out loud, that it will communicate something more meaningful, sparing us from having to interpret the context between lines.
One philosopher said that Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. When is the last time you’ve listened or interpreted silence? Would you rather go to a concert in order to listen to a short piece of music without any music or you belong to those people who turn their radio on so they could escape the silence?
John Cage is a composer who changed the understanding of music in the 20th Century. More precisely, the everyday sounds that surround us: “If you listen to Mozart and Beethoven, it’s always the same,” he claimed. “But if you listen to the traffic here on Sixth Avenue, it’s always different.” Whether you agree with this statement or not, Cage’s famous 4’33’’ is among the works of art you simply cannot miss! Listen to Cage’s orchestral ‘sound of silence’, ‘written’ in 1952 – 12 years before Simon & Garfunkel’s famous hit’s been published!