Isn’t it amazing when you are randomly scrolling on your phone, constantly entertaining yourself with random memes and contents, when suddenly you stumbled upon a show or music that you have not seen or heard for a long time? That’s what happened when I encountered the captivating music of Etienne de Lavaulx playing The Sound of Silence.
The Sound of Silence, which has been an original song of the American duo Simon & Garfunkel was released in 1965. According to the writer of the song who is Paul Simon he wrote the song when he was 21 years old, that is why most people believed that the song commented on the John F. Kennedy assassination since it has been recorded three months after the incident and Simon’s age when he wrote this song clearly coincide on the tragic event. While for one of the duo Garfunkel, “the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other.” is what the song means.
However, it’s clear that Etienne de Lavaulx does not lack the ability to communicate with other people through the beauty of his music. He started to play classical guitar at just the age of 11. Then, he started composing using his classical guitar at the age of 17. According to his website, his inspiration for his composition was derived from an intense search for the meaning of life as well as his love of nature, where he spent many hours improvising and experimenting on his guitar. When he migrated to Australia in 1969, that is when he discovered the chord-zither. Today, he showcases his love for his unusual instruments around Melbourne and, of course, YouTube.
Watch how he magnificently play one of the greatest songs of all time using his 5-chord zither:
If you want to listen to Etienne de Lavaulx’s music every day, you must check out his official YouTube account.
