ABSTRACT
Water Music, composed in the spring of 1952 (Cage 1952d), is the first example of John Cage's theatre pieces, theatre being, according to Cage, "something which engages both the eye and the ear" (Kirby and Schechner 1965,50). The six minute and forty second composition is for a pianist who, in addition to using the keyboard, also employs a radio, various whistles, a deck of cards, containers of water, a wooden stick, four piano preparation objects, and a stop-watch. The piece is generally programmed as Water Music, although it may be identified as the date or place of performance (Cage 1952d). It was first performed by David Tudor on May 2, 1952 at the New School for Social Research, New York City, and was programmed as "66 W. 12" (the street address for the performance); when Tudor next performed it, at Black Mountain College on August 12, 1952, it was titled "Aug. 12, 1952" (Dunn 1962, 43).
