The idea of Water Music came to me on a beautiful spring day as I listened in a state of wonder to the music produced by droplets falling from melting icicles. I was fascinated by the complexity of the sound, the beauty of such a mundane natural phenomenon, that we tend to overlook. A rivulet had formed. Mixing with the melting snow, it would undoubtedly end up joining the swollen stream. Everything was there: the atmosphere, the paths to be followed, the formal concept. One needs only to pay attention.

Water Music was realized in 1991 at the composer’s studio. The piece was commissioned by David Olds (for Toronto’s CKLN FM program Transfigured Night) with the help of the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA).