Short answers, pulled from the story.
Texture is the way tempo, melody, and harmony are combined in a musical composition to determine the overall quality of the sound. It serves as the invisible architecture of music that defines how many voices speak at once.
Gregorian chant is the most famous example of monophonic music, a style that dominated Western religious music for centuries. This texture features a single melodic line with no accompaniment or harmony.
Tallis's If Ye Love Me was composed in the 1549. This piece is a classic example of homophonic texture where voices move together using the same rhythm to create chords.
György Ligeti first used the micropolyphony texture, where individual voices are so closely interwoven that they create a dense, shimmering sound. This form is often found in contemporary classical music.
The relationship between silence and sound is one of contrast, as silence creates a sense of tension that is released when the music resumes. Silence acts as a break in the texture to allow the listener to reflect on the music.