Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Thomas Moore <>]

At the time John wrote Water Music, the AM band would have been (in the US, at least) the one people commonly used. FM radio didn't really begin to emerge until the late 60s and early 70s. (Most car radios back then had only AM.)

Chris, the "water warbler" mentioned in the score is an inexpensive plastic whistle — John and Laura Kuhn sent me one that looked like one of these:

http://golden-library.com/pet-supplies/bird-supplies/toys/12-plastic-water-warbler-bird-whistles-kids-toy-party-favors-detail

"Like something you could find on Canal Street," said John.

Tom

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Thomas Moore

Director, Arts Management

UMBC

1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, MD 21250

410-455-3370

From: Richard Friedman <>
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2013 3:39 PM
To: Thomas Moore <>
Cc: <>
Subject: [silence] Re: FW: Cage Water Music

Yes, that would make more sense:

1025, 750, 880, 1020, 1330 and 1250 KHz AM.

Again, many AM radio dials drop the last digit.

<R>

On 1/31/13 2:48 PM, "Thomas Moore" wrote:

Hi Chris.

These would all have to be AM stations, although John's way of numbering
them is a little peculiar -- I use 750, 880, 1020 and so on -- and one
would think they were chance generated numbers.

Best,
Tom Moore

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On 1/31/13 12:06 PM, "Christopher Hobbs"  wrote:

Dear All,

I'm performing Water Music in March and I wondered whether anyone had any
information regarding the radio frequencies Cage asks for; these are
102.5, 75, 88, 102, 133 and 125. Were these ever contained in one
frequency band? And were they real stations or randomly selected numbers?
Any news and views welcome.

All best,

Chris Hobbs

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