John Cage - Water Walk

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. "

Category:

Music

Tags:

• music
• experimental
• noise
• johncage

[ThatSalvadoreanGuy]

I can't stand the audience laughing

[mkotisrael]

after listening to this i went to make myself some tea, and i suddenly noticed all those little sounds - the water boiling, the sugar hitting the bottom of the glass. I noticed that they have a rhythm to them. that was very enjoyable.

it made me understand something - whether or not this is music is a question of semantics. foremost it is an admirable artistic performance.

[cjh666]

@ThatSalvadoreanGuy I like it, it would be naïve to assume they wouldn't laugh.

[MaestroJaydoggy]

@MrRiisLarsen

Despite your best efforts, by calling the audience "simpletons" and disliking their laughter, you probably understand Cage less than this audience did. He intended that laughter. It was in fact part of the music. It was a random, ever-changing element, something that Cage found essential.

[Elbenzo64]

@ThatSalvadoreanGuy

Humor is created when one is subjected to the happily unexpected, and thus this act, whether he intended it or not, was hilarious.

Just as a good punch line is always one you didn't see coming, not a single movement in this entire performance could be predicted or fully explained. The audience was laughing because this act had all the workings of something brilliantly funny, and was delivered so dryly and seriously that it intensified this tenfold.

[MrPlumbrano]

@ThatSalvadoreanGuy i like how he took it, such a good soul

[MrRiisLarsen]

@tykun101 Just look at John's face while he is being introduced, and listen to the host's tone. From my reading, it seems like Mr. Cage would like to be taken a bit more seriously, but the host plays the role of treating him like a clown by subtly mocking his "music," and frequently interrupting him. I'm totally down for zany, but also for heartfelt. I feel like the best combination comes when there is an initial serious approach to ridiculous material. Respect yields more joy than sarcasm. :D

[SindiFur]

He's sounds like the Brain, from Animaniacs.

[tykun101]

@MrRiisLarsen Why do you want music to be taken so seriously? Your notion of serious music is one that has been around since Beethoven. I think it's about time that a cultural change of that order takes place. There's enough seriousness in this love-forsaken world. John Cage and others have put the 'play' back in music, by being playful and doing something odd for your and others' amusement. And that notion is the portion of his genius for which I am thankful.

[tykun101]

@ThatSalvadoreanGuy The most important thing when it comes to music of ANY kind is that it cannot be taken too seriously. Even though this is considered music, Mr. Cage clearly wasn't taking it that seriously; he played the piece as he wrote it, in the precise time intervals, but he would never tell you he considers this a great masterpiece. The amazing thing is that Avante Garde music like this puts the 'play' back in music. It should be fun, playful, and yes, even humorous to make music :)