John Cage - Water Walk

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John Cage performing "Water Walk" in January, 1960 on the popular TV show I've Got A Secret. via WFMU: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/john_cage_on_a_.html "At the time, Cage was teaching Experimental Composition at New York City's New School. Eight years beyond 4:33, he was (as our smoking MC informs us) the most controversial figure in the musical world at that time. His first performance on national television was originally scored to include five radios, but a union dispute on the CBS set prevented any of the radios from being plugged in to the wall. Cage gleefully smacks and tosses the radios instead of turning them on and off. While treating Cage as something of a freak, the show also treats him fairly reverentially, cancelling the regular game show format to allow Cage the chance to perform his entire piece. "

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Comments to “John Cage - Water Walk”

  1. LYSANDRA Says: January 8th, 2009 at 07:32:20

    no one cares what your opinion is...Cage saw himself as a musician... therefore he is. the reason you claim the music is conceptual is because it is percussive and therefore visually stimulating

  2. Tamtun Says: January 8th, 2009 at 07:55:19

    Awesome! The pushed radio precludes the smashed guitar(townshend OR Hendrix) by at least a few years...beautiful!

  3. Daelan Says: January 8th, 2009 at 08:18:18

    Music will become as radical as the world allows it to be. In this case, it's gone a long, long way...

  4. Yocheved Says: January 8th, 2009 at 08:41:17

    I'm not sure about it. I wonder if it's the impulse of communicate that makes one work on artworks and then lock it in a drawer. I must say that some create, or should I say, act even if there's no audience. I'm not saying that this relates to every artist, I'm just saying that this can relate to some artists. And I say that because it does relate to some of the things I create.

  5. DOREEN Says: January 8th, 2009 at 09:04:16

    Here's my opinion on Cage What Cage performed was a conceptual art piece not a musical piece, because the audience's reaction to it was both hearing and seeing. A musical piece's results are alomost 90 per cent hearing. Sure we see the performer or the band with the instruments but the effect is not from the way they play but the sounds that some from how they play. Therefore in my opinion Cage is more of a conceptual artist than a musician. And a very original one at that!

  6. Arlene Says: January 8th, 2009 at 09:27:15

    the first chuckle from the audience sounded like it could have been included in the composition

  7. MOIBEAL Says: January 8th, 2009 at 09:50:14

    The might say that figuratively, but isn't art always a form of communication?

  8. Destrie Says: January 8th, 2009 at 10:13:13

    hehehe. Okay, so on the one hand if *anyone* sees something as music, I'm not allowed to disagree because everyone's point of view is sacred, but on the other hand you can make as strong a value judgement as to say that I'm "regressive" and "small-minded" because I don't think this stuff is music. My God, man, make up your mind! Anyway, your answer isn't very satisfying. Your definition of music is reality simply because *anyone* sees music as just sound? What? Isn't my definition reality, too?

  9. MEI Says: January 8th, 2009 at 10:36:12

    If anyone sees something as music. You can say it isn't music but it still is music because it is music to me. Your regressive small-mindedness cannot take the music away from me.

  10. Flannagain Says: January 8th, 2009 at 10:59:11

    Sorry for the multiple comments/comments that don't flow well together. I had something better typed up, but I couldn't post it! Under the character limit too, weird...

  11. Noreena Says: January 8th, 2009 at 11:22:10

    Definitions have to agree with a) past use of the word and b) common conception of a word. Cage's definition was a radical break, and many people today don't see music as just organized noise. So please, how is your definition "reality"?

  12. Bryce Says: January 8th, 2009 at 11:45:09

    Wait, what *is* the reality? Is Cage's definition of "music" somehow objectively true?

  13. Nathalee Says: January 8th, 2009 at 12:08:08

    Test.

  14. Blaize Says: January 8th, 2009 at 12:31:07

    Sure, YOU can define it however you want. It doesn't change the reality.

  15. Findabair Says: January 8th, 2009 at 12:54:06

    If you don't think this is music, then listen to it without looking at the video. Three words: "Descent Into Madness". Notice how the laughing of the audience becomes a part of the composition. When Cage said "I consider laughter better than tears" he just as easily could've been making an judgment over which "instrument" was best for the piece.

  16. Archambault Says: January 8th, 2009 at 13:17:05

    I sure as hell can say it's not music. What, you're going to tell me how I can and can't define a term? Get real :P

  17. Vivica Says: January 8th, 2009 at 13:40:04

    You're a very open-minded person. That's truly great and especially useful for someone in the arts. Cage's works are truly inspirational. I suggest you buy the album "Indeterminacy". It's poetry.

  18. AFEWORK Says: January 8th, 2009 at 14:03:03

    two words.

  19. Fie Says: January 8th, 2009 at 14:26:02

    Wow, that host seemed like an asshole

  20. Benton Says: January 8th, 2009 at 14:49:01

    i just learned about this man today in piano class, when one of the students chose to play his piece four minuets thirty three secconds. i was one of about 3 who enjoyed the piece, the other students were rather befuddled as to why that was music. the teacher couldn't help but to snicker for all four minuets lol. i look foward to exploring his works, and listning to interviews of his. he has changed my perception of music after just hearing 2 of his pieces =-p. what an amasing man!

  21. GAR Says: January 8th, 2009 at 15:12:00

    I wouldn't say he was treated as a freak. His style of music was back then completely unconventional and he really was a controversial figure. A lot of people today still disagree with what he creates is called "music" and is still considered "weird." And in reality the mannerisms back then were different so if you were referring to how they spoke about his work they were just being quite clear for the audience who are also probably thinking what on earth did he just say?!

  22. ETHELBALD Says: January 8th, 2009 at 15:34:59

    Wow... this is sort of like Philip Glass appearing on "American Idol" (except that Glass is about 100 times more mainstream than Cage was in 1960). Try finding anything like that on TV today. I love how Cage was so matter-of-fact about his music. He doesn't look down on the audience. I bet he enjoyed performing for an audience that could experience his music with a certain innocence, unlike the jaded academics he was probably more used to.

  23. Colquhoun Says: January 8th, 2009 at 15:57:58

    I agree. But didn't he want to lay the simple relation (minimalist) between sounds and where the sounds lead to? I see (personal opinion) that he just wanted to let us free to understand how atmospheres and mental universes could be related to a sound.

  24. CAMELIA Says: January 8th, 2009 at 16:20:57

    MMMMmmm....Winston Cigarettes.

  25. ADAIR Says: January 8th, 2009 at 16:43:56

    "I consider laughter better than tears" :)

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