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Listening Report of John Cage’s “Water Walk”

 Patryk Merci

The Future of American Music Matriculation number: 7613841 Dr. Herzogenrath

WS 22/23

 

 

Listening Report of John Cage’s “Water Walk”

 

 

 

John Cage was an unconventional composer, because he believed that noise in itself would be important for the future of music, as he perceived noise as a form of music. In his piece “Water Walk” he manages to capture different noises made by common household items and organize them in a way that creates noticeable rhythm and purpose. He manages to use every household item in a certain way that in some portions of the piece does not even have a slight indication that it could be water making those sounds. Meanwhile, water is the central element in the piece, being responsible for developing and upholding the atmosphere.

 

 

The piece begins with a sound that resembles fast drums, which creates anticipation and reminds of intensive moments in movies when something is about to happen. However, it does not reveal what type of sounds should be expected next, which contributes to a mysterious atmosphere. Immediately afterwards, there is a sudden high-pitch sound which is almost like wiping a wet window, the type of sound very typical for science fiction horrors, as it has a certain ominous aura. Yet once again, the piece does not follow into that ominous rhythm, as it takes another turn when Cage continuous to use items that create a light and slow-paced drum sounds, giving the piece a more welcoming acoustical appearance for a couple of seconds. Following that, a sound resembling a pistol shot furtherly enhances the rhythm, mirroring punchy electronic percussion samples. In this moment the piece starts emphasizing true water sounds, as a sound of boiling water precedes water drops and taking on water. The atmosphere of the piece changes once again, as it is no longer mysterious or ominous, but instead comes back to anticipation which later also introduces a peaceful tranquility. This process also resembles diving and then reemerging on the surface, which is humorously accompanied by a sound of squeaking toy duck, usually found in kids’ bathtubs. By doing that, Cage attempts to create a multidimensional experience which makes the

listener feel as if they were in the water themselves. However, this lasts only a brief moment, as the subsequent sound of piano reminds that it is only a music piece, as if guiding the audience to prevent it from getting lost in the organization of different sounds. As the piece comes to an end, continuous smashing sounds once again resemble punchy electronic percussion, being also accompanied by the sound of falling objects, which together create a faster paced rhythm.

 

 

Overall, the piece invites the audience to try and interpret it in a way that reminds of experiences from its everyday life. The organization could be compared to a swimming competition, where drum sounds provide an opening sequence which is followed by a gun shot that starts the competition, followed by the swimmers jumping into water and then reemerging.
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