Members of Choir of the Earth met online in June, July and August 2023 for our popular Summer School, at which we learned a diverse range of pieces with Musical Director, Ben England. One of these was the controversial 4’33” by John Cage.
When we announced our intention to perform 4’33”, it sparked interesting debates among our members: Is this music? What is the point? Are rests as much a part of a piece as notes? Does silence have a rhythm? What is the sound of silence, if it even really exists?
In order to find out the answers to these questions and more, we took our performance of 4'33" as seriously as any other piece: we had the fabulous Fieri Consort record guide videos for us and used these alongside Ben's conducting of the piece to record our performances individually in spaces all around the world - some indoors, some outdoors.
Our audio recordings have now been mixed in the studio to produce something very unique, and the accompanying video shows our members performing the piece together on Zoom.
Many of our performers were surprised at how powerful, rewarding and even emotional they found this experience, and we look forward to sharing it with the world. Indeed, this performance is not simply a passive experience - we invite the audience to immerse themselves in the piece and perform it along with us at home.
Join Choir of the Earth for the premiere of this intriguing experience, live on Friday 8 December 2023 at 19:00 UK time, or later at your leisure.