Sound and silence can be just as intriguing as each other
Being from the Azores, I thought I’d share something from my own culture that fits surprisingly well with the ideas behind Le Chant du Silence.
The Viola da Terra is a traditional Azorean string instrument, and depending on the island and the version, it can have 12, 15, or even 18 strings.
The Terceira version is especially distinctive, with strings grouped into double and triple courses. It creates a sound that is very different from what you might expect from a guitar.
I’ve always found something fascinating about the idea that an instrument can have so many strings, while what we ultimately experience is a single sound.
Maybe silence is a little like that too — not the absence of everything, but something much more complex than it appears.
Anyone here familiar with the Viola da Terra?