Our life is like a marathon race, and even with obstacles. We are in a hurry to do everything, we want to do everything possible and impossible. In the constant bustle of the city, in the noise and roar, we sometimes dream of peace and quiet. Silence seems to us a desirable goal, a symbol of rest and relaxation. But in the word "silence" we subconsciously put not only the meaning of the absence of sounds. The concept of silence is different for each of us. It's an almost mystical feeling. So what is silence?
Silence as a physical phenomenon
Silence is defined as the absence of sound. Sound is vibrations that propagate in different environments. A person hears a certain range of sound frequencies from 15 to 20,000 Hz. On Earth, in natural conditions, there are no places where there is no medium for the transmission of sound vibrations. This includes air, water, and solid media. Sounds are transmitted everywhere, only the speed of propagation changes. For scientific and research purposes, sound chambers were invented. These are chambers that are isolated from sounds; not a single sound enters them from the outside. This is achieved by processing walls, floors andceiling with special sound-absorbing, acoustic materials.
In order to prevent the transmission of sounds through the structure of the building and there was no contact with the environment, these cameras are hung inside on chains. But even in such special rooms there is no absolute silence for a person. We can hear the sound of our own heartbeat, the sounds of breathing. There is no absolute silence on Earth. But each of us knows that there is silence. And for each person there is silence. We experience it differently. The feeling of silence can be called the sixth sense of man.
Views of silence
Silence is always different. For every place, for every landscape, for every weather it has its own. Silence consists of a huge number of tiny sounds that affect our subconscious. In the forest, this is the rustle of leaves, the crunch of branches, the chirping of insects. On the seashore, this is the sound of the surf, the creak of sand. All these noises that we are not aware of create a certain sensation that affects our emotions. Silence hypnotizes us. If we are sad, our sadness can either increase or dissipate. If we rejoice, then in silence, joy can also be perceived differently.
In any space, sound not only propagates in a straight line, sound waves are reflected from all surfaces: from the floor, ceiling, objects. Therefore, the sound atmosphere consists of direct and reflected sounds. In acoustics, there is a concept of "reverberation time". This is the decay time of the echo. And for the feeling of silence, time is also very important.reverb.
Dead with scythes are standing
People have always perceived silence as a phenomenon that contains some information about events, sometimes a warning. It is no coincidence that there are many stable combinations with the word silence in the language. This is "dead silence", "ringing silence", etc. These phraseological units have a certain emotional connotation. We say this when we want to enhance the impact of the story.
The origin of the phrase "dead silence" is associated with the concept of death. We say: "Quietly, as in a coffin." Hence the synonym - deathly silence. This silence contains a threat, a mystery, a fear.
Quiet night
Each of us sometimes really wants to wait for silence in the evening. Annoying screams under the window, neighbors turning on a drill, a tap dripping in the kitchen. But when the stillness of the night finally comes, it doesn't always bring us peace.
This silence contains a whole world, sometimes mysterious, sometimes benevolent, sometimes hostile. What thoughts and visions do not visit us in the silence of the night! At this time, crimes are committed, scientific discoveries are made, important decisions are made, great works are written.
Silence in Literature
Many writers and poets have written about silence. Gogol, Pushkin, Bunin, Yesenin. Mandelstam. What is silence like? Silence is for everyone. The collection of poems by the symbolist poet Balmont is called "Silence". Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk's novel is titled"House of Silence" In 1962, Yuri Bondarev wrote the famous novel Silence. In all these works there are different plots, different characters, different times. But in each of them there is an invisible image of silence.
Silence in painting
There is a fantastic assumption that the artist's mental image remains forever on the canvas. These are the feelings and thoughts that the author experienced while working on the picture. Looking at some works, you start to believe in it.
In some paintings by Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Kuindzhi, Levitan, the viewer physically feels the silence. Each canvas has its own silence. Sometimes disturbing, sometimes soothing, sometimes depressing.
About his painting "Above Eternal Peace" I. Levitan wrote that in this silence there is horror and fear in which future generations have drowned and will still drown. And looking at this picture, you begin to believe that the mental image is a reality. Why else is there a heart-rending cry in our ears when we look at a Munch painting? And the bright, seemingly joyful paintings by Gustav Klimt "Kiss" and "Hugs" evoke a feeling of silence. What is the silence inside the artist? We try to figure it out by looking at the picture.
Silence in music
The headline title sounds like an oxymoron. Still, silence in music is very important. As O. Mandelstam wrote:
There is no greater music than silence.
Composers used pauses to emphasize the expressiveness of the sound, add drama, enhanceemotions. A pause in the music is a stop on the run, an interruption in breathing, the last doubts before takeoff. Pauses have different duration - from 1/64 to several measures. A general pause means the end of the sound of the entire orchestra. This is a powerful expressive tool. It was used by both Bach and Beethoven. In modern music, the so-called visuale cadence is sometimes used. For example, with Schnittke, the musician plays the violin higher and higher and higher, and when it seems that everything is over - the range is exhausted, the bow rises above the violin and moves in the tempo of the music through the air. The pause in the music is like a freeze frame in a movie.
American composer John Cage presented his composition 4ʹ33ʺ to the public. It consists of three parts and lasts 4 minutes 33 seconds. During the performance, the orchestra on the stage does not make a sound. The composer believed that the content of each of the parts is the sounds that the hall is always filled with. Just as white is a mixture of all colors, so is silence containing all music.
There is no answer to the question of what silence is like. Silence is for everyone.
