The Music of Silence

Music is in the silence between the notes, said Claude Debussy once. With these words, he conveyed an extraordinary truth: it is not only the duration of individual sounds but also the temporal distances between them that create the emotions and message of a piece. Music and silence are inextricably linked because music exists thanks to silence, which is filled with music, added Marcel Marceau.

The Polish Radio Choir, in their programme, invites us to listen intently to both music and silence. They propose sacral music as the medium for this experience, selected not based on historical significance but through an emotional lens. Very personal prayers, such as those by James MacMillan and Pēteris Vasks, arrangements of old melodies by John Tavener and John Rutter, and the moving works of Arvo Pärt and Herbert Howells will make us seek silence not only in the world around us but also within ourselves.