DAVID TUDOR

Tudor Plays Cage and Tudor

Pianist and composer David Tudor in the 1982 recording of John Cage's Solo for Piano (from the Concert for Piano and Orchestra) and the 1993 performance of Tudor's own Neural synthesis No. 2.

Neural Synthesis, Nos. 6-9

In this two-disc Lovely Music release, electronic music pioneer David Tudor orchestrates electronic sounds in ways analogous to our biological bodies' orchestration of consciousness. The performance features a custom-built neural-network synthesizer as well as Tudor's own unique collection of electronic devices. The first CD contains Tudor's Neural Synthesis No. 6 & 7 (binaural recording). The second CD contains Neural Synthesis No. 8 & 9 (stereo recording).

on Mesa/Pontpoint/Fwyyn

A colloboration with Pauline Oliveros and David Tudor, the three compositions on this recording feature the bandoneon, a polyphonic, metal-reed instrument of the concertina family. Mesa, originally commissioned by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, is performed here by David Tudor, bandoneon, with Gordon Mumma, cybersonic console. Pontpoint utilizes the bandoneon and a bowed psaltery, a multi-stringed zither, the sounds of both instruments being modified with "cybersonic" procedures developed by the composer. Fwyyn, a bandoneon duo by Oliveros and Mumma, is the only work on the recording in which the natural acoustical sound of the instrument is heard. 1986 Lovely Music.

on Beachcombers

Live-electronic music, by Larry Austin, for four musicians and tape, commissioned by the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation for performance with the dance work and film, Coast Zone. Choreographed by Merce Cunningham and first performed by John Cage, voice; Martin Kalve, koto; Takehisa Kosugi, violin; and David Tudor, electronics.

Also a contributor in SOURCE Magazine. Please refer to SOURCE heading (in Rare Collector's Items section) for details.

David Tudor

David Tudor is something of a legend in the world of American experimental music. For a number of years following the Second World War, he was the only performer to devote himself systematically to this music. In so doing, Tudor became a touchstone for some of the most radical musical activity of the 20th century. Famous premiers and early performances of works by John Cage, Pierre Boulez, Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sylbano Bussotti, Earle Brown, among others, highlighted Tudor's interpretive and technical virtuosity. In the late 1960s, Tudor gradually ended his career as a pianist and begin to focus on, and develop, what was later called "live electronic music." He became immersed in electronic performance and worked on compositional, technical and manufacturing developments in the medium. Tudor has been affiliated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company since its inception in 1953 and has supplied the company with many commissioned works, including Rainforest I (1968), Phonemes (1981), Virtual Focus (1990), and Neural Synthesis (1992).

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