Walter Meyer wrote:

>Silence has always been an element of music... If silence w/in a musical
>work are an acceptable part of music, why can'ta relatively brief period
>of silence of specified duration, admittedly a bit longer than the rests
>or pauses usually encountered as parts of conventional musical works, be
>accepted as an integral musical work in its own right?

To be sure, silence has always been a part of music in the form of an
interval or a pause.  So has an interval or a pause between bites at
a meal.  For a practical matter, other than for purposes of starving
yourself, how about making a meal out of 4.33 courses of nothing? (It
could be done, but you'd be eating Dada, IMO.)

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]