Listening Report – John Cage: Water Walk

John Cage’s “Water Walk” was performed at a Television Show in 1960. The performance includes several objects that are known as ordinary household objects, such as a bathtub, or a cooking pot. John Cage also uses a different variation of a piano which is called “prepared piano”, a stopwatch, and a recording device.

The Water Walk shows similarities to a performance of classical music, played by an orchestra. While an orchestra contains a variety of instruments, the Water Walk by John Cage replaces the instruments and uses household items instead. Another similarity can be seen at the precise timing for the usage of the objects: Just like an Orchestra, John Cage follows a strict plan to have the objects create the sound at the right time and therefore be in the right order. The performer also possesses the role of the director, since he is in control of the objects and creates the right sound at the right time, just like a director in an orchestra tells the instrumentalists when to play and when to stop to create harmony between the sounds.

The beginning of the Water Walk contains the creation of a rather horrifying sound by the prepared piano, followed by sounds that are made by various objects. The disturbing feeling is being reinforced by the scenery of the Water Walk, since it can be seen as odd to see how different sounds are made by putting objects inside a glass, putting water from the bathtub into a water pitcher, or hitting the bathtub with a stick-like object while looking at the stopwatch for the right timing.

However, it can also be interesting to see what sounds are made by everyday objects that do not get the attention of listeners when they appear while being used in a household, due to their lack of specialty. Therefore, it can be assumed that everything can be seen as music if people draw their attention towards it.

During the performance of the Water Walk, laughter can be heard by the audience which means that the Water Walk was perceived as something that is humoristic and entertaining, rather than something that is artistic and intellectual like a performance in an orchestra. The Audience would have shown a rather silent and attentive reaction if the performance contains classical music. This leads to the assumption that John Cage’s “Water Walk” is meant to be a parody of classical music performances and orchestras.