Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Part One. A lesson in the power of silence.

Last week I went to see the current exhibition of Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, which I found fascinating.  Looking into his life and work I discovered that he was not only a composer, but also collaborated with visual artists.  

Music creates feelings in me that go well beyond my hearing.  It inspires emotions, memories, and even aspects like temperature, touch, smell, color, and words.  

Within the music that was connected to the images, I also noticed how silence can play a huge role in making the notes even more significant.

I began thinking about how I use rests and rubato in the Schumann-Liszt Liebeslied (Widmung) from "Myrthen", Op. 25, particularly toward the end of the work, when the music not only comes to full resolution, but the use of rubato helps to celebrate the majesty of love.

The result of these thoughts? 

Watching—and enjoying—that exhibition was as much about the notes I heard, as the ones that weren’t even there.

You can listen to my performance of Liebeslied here to see what I mean.