Silence might at first seem straightforward in music – the notes stop playing, that's all. But it’s not that simple.
The more you listen to silence, the more interesting it becomes, as John Cage said.
In The Lyric Feature: The Silence in Between, broadcasting on RTÉ lyric fm on Sunday, April 19th, pianist and radio host Guy Livingston takes us on a fascinating musical journey from the pauses of medieval chant, through silences in Monteverdi, Mahler, Pärt, and beyond - listen to it above.
Watch: Guy Livingstone on The Silence in Between
Guy meets Monica Germino, a virtuoso violinist confronting hearing loss, who co-invented the "whisperviolin"; Romain Charles, an astronaut who spent 520 days in isolation on a simulated mission to Mars; Luis Rolo, an antenna engineer from the European Space Agency; and Sean Street, author of a book on silence.
Jane Clarke’s poem The Pianist concludes this feature.
The Lyric Feature, Sunday, 6 - 7pm, RTÉ lyric fm - listen to more from The Lyric Feature here.
