Nothing: John Cage and 4'33"

「什麼聲音都沒有，聽起來是什麼樣子？」
——這是一段關於John Cage經典作品《4分33秒》的另類歷史，由凱迪克金牌插畫家Chris Raschka傾力繪製。

1952年的某個晚上，鋼琴家David Tudor登上了名為「Maverick」的穀倉式音樂廳舞台。現場座無虛席，觀眾屏息以待，準備聆聽他的演奏。
然而他們並不知道，表演早已悄悄開始——

雨滴輕敲屋頂，樹葉沙沙作響，觀眾輕聲移動座椅……

David演奏的是作曲家John Cage的作品《4分33秒》。這首樂曲的目的不在於演奏音符，而是讓聽眾專注於周遭的環境聲響——任何地方、任何時刻的「聲音現場」。
那場首演令人震驚，也引來不少批評，但《4分33秒》卻歷久不衰。至今，從最小型的地下樂團到世界級交響樂團，都曾演出這首作品。
懂得欣賞這首「無聲之作」的聽眾，聽見了John Cage真正想傳達的理念：

「沒有聲音」從不等於「寂靜」。
你不需要音樂家，不需要音樂廳，甚至不需要樂器，就能聽見值得細細品味的聲音。
你需要的只是停下來，仔細傾聽。

Nicholas Day的文字懷抱敬意，又不失幽默與溫度；兩度獲得凱迪克金牌的Chris Raschka，則以自由奔放的彩鉛與水彩畫風，捕捉這首音樂與藝術之間的空白與力量。這本書是獻給所有年齡層的讀者——特別是陪伴孩子探索世界的家長們——帶來啟發與討論的絕佳起點。

《Nothing》是一本不容錯過的作品。

榮獲「青少年圖書館學會金標選書」（Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection）

What does nothing sound like? An offbeat history of John Cage’s 4’33”, a musical composition of blank bars, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka.

One night in 1952, master pianist David Tudor took the stage in a barnlike concert hall called the Maverick. A packed audience waited with bated breath for him to start playing. Little did they know that the performance had already begun.

A rain patters.
A tree rustles.
An audience stirs.

David was performing John Cage’s 4’33”, whose purpose is to amplify the ambient sounds of whatever venue it inhabits. That shocking first performance earned 4’33” plenty of haters; and yet the piece endures, “performed” by the smallest garage bands and the grandest symphonies alike, year after year. Its fans hear what John Cage hoped we would hear: “Nothing” is never silent, and you don’t need a creative genius, a concert hall, or even a piano to hear something worthwhile. All you have to do is stop and listen.

Nicholas Day’s text is reverent with a healthy drop of humor, warm and refined; two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka’s childlike pencil-on-watercolor artwork is uninhibited and electrifying, with all the visionary spirit of the work it chronicles. Guaranteed to spark generative thought and lively debate among readers of all ages, Nothing is not to be missed.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection