Do you think that the mysterious relationship between sounds and silence could possibly give us a new scope for the imperceptible world? –Taku Sugimoto
These musicians, associated with the Onkyo group in Tokyo, explore the role of silence in shaping and subverting the musical event. Along with the international composer collective Wandelweiser, of which Malfatti is a member, the Onkyo group and its descendents work in the vein of John Cage, particularly Cage’s late “number pieces,” where long silences are interspersed with sparse musical events, and many choices are left to the performer.
Onkyo’s origin is often traced to improvised performances at the Tokyo venue Off-Site, where Sugimoto was a driving force. After Onkyo became somewhat established, other musicians followed in their wake: Taku Unami, and later Kawaguchi and Kamura. The original concert series, “Meeting at Off-Site,” was known for the performers’ subtle and quiet playing and the incorporation of prolonged silences into electro-acoustic improvisations.
Their use of silence as foreground, and their sparse, minimal playing deconstructs the traditional correlations between intended sound and its absence, creating a seamless flow of sounds and silences. It is not only music becoming porous—the silence allowing environmental sounds to enter into the composition—but also a confrontation of the most elemental musical assumption: the difference between sound and silence.
