John Cage's 4'33

Although a seemly ridiculous notion, the piece '4'33' is interesting in that in the three movements it holds, there is complete silence. To people this may sound pointless but the piece is interesting to me in that every-time you hear it, you will hear a completely different piece. For instance, in the piece I have posted, conducted by Lawrence Foster, you hear various sounds such as a plastic cup, keys jangling, coughing, slight laughing and other sounds. However, the experience of listening to it can only be truly had while listening to it live. The purpose of the piece, I feel is to be acutely aware of your surroundings and yourself. It is almost like an exercise being conducted where you are the performer and also the spectator. You and everyone else around you are entertaining each other, including the full orchestra and conductor. Although the piece is supposed to be silent, there can never be somewhere completely devoid of sound and this is the point of the piece.