About Silence from About: Silence by Marco Antonio Santos

“About Silence” is the name of the first movement of this project. Its title is similar to the name of the entire album, but without a colon (About: Silence is the name of the entire project). This track addresses the most fundamental definition of silence, which is the absence of sound.
The intended character of this track is dramatic, yet quiet and with “space.” The tempo organization is mostly open and free, with several segments utilizing floating melodic ideas, rubato, accelerando, ritardando, and fermata. These tempo alterations enhance the plan of having silent gaps in the sound. This music was written for guitar, upright bass and drums, in addition to a woodwind quartet consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. The flutist doubles on C flute and alto flute, while the oboe player also plays English horn. There are two sections for improvised solos -- a collective one at the beginning for the guitar trio as a unit and a later section for guitar alone.

Tracklist

1.	About Silence	10:09

Videos

Lyrics

The theme of silence and its many poetic meanings unifies this project. Each movement reflects a different implication of the word “silence.” There is a poem written for each one of these meanings, attaching words to each composition in this collection, to enhance the meaning and communication of the instrumental material. It is important to observe that these concepts of silence are not literal. They are mostly personal and philosophical.

Poem by Marco Antonio Santos
English translation by Francisco Vilhena

Voice old friend
Monochromatic rock
Signs made of clenched fists and locked eyes
Monotonous – becomes dust

Your voice suspicious, lurking
Stereophonic sand
Confronts, converges, suspends, delivers
Two-tone painting – becomes dust

Tree, car, refrigerator // Mud
Warbles, flourishes, right foot and eye on the canvas // Mother’s whisper and the train’s
Wassily’s dome – becomes dust

Do you hear the world?
Rock, sand, mud, gas
Dust which burns and shines
You are all silence – alas (endless)

Credits

from About: Silence, released May 5, 2023
guitar/ composition - Marco Antonio Santos
upright bass - Chris Jones
drums - Fabio Augustinis

flutes - Dominique Reilly
oboe/ English horn - David Blackwell Jr.
clarinet - John Mills
clarinet - Daniel Toscano
bassoon - Brigit Fitzgerald

recording engineer
Orb Recording Studios.
Austin. April/ May 2022 - Victor Gaspar

mixing/mastering
Estúdio Arsis.
São Paulo. May 2022 - Adonias Souza Jr.

art - Chico Ceciliano
design - Carine Rieko
photography - Zoey Otey/ Ligia Francisco

License