Editing David Tudor (section)

== Life and career ==
Tudor was born in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. He studied piano with [[Irma Wolpe]] and composition with [[Stefan Wolpe]] and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the first American performance of the ''[[Piano sonatas (Boulez)|Piano Sonata No. 2]]'' by [[Pierre Boulez]] in 1950, and a European tour in 1954 greatly enhanced his reputation. [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] dedicated his ''Klavierstück VI'' (1955) to Tudor. Tudor also gave early performances of works by [[Morton Feldman]], [[Earle Brown]], [[Christian Wolff (composer)|Christian Wolff]] and [[La Monte Young]].

The composer with whom Tudor is particularly associated is [[John Cage]]; he gave the premiere of Cage's ''[[Music of Changes]]'', ''Concert For Piano and Orchestra'' and the notorious [[4′33″|''4' 33"'']]. Cage said that many of his pieces were written either specifically for Tudor to perform or with him in mind, once stating "what you had to do was to make a situation that would interest ''him''. That was the role he played."<ref name="Holzaepfel">Holzaepfel, John. [http://www.dramonline.org/albums/david-tudor-and-gordon-mumma/notes "David Tudor and Gordon Mumma"]. Liner note essay. [[New World Records]].</ref> The two worked closely together on many of Cage's pieces, both works for piano and electronic pieces, including for the [[Smithsonian Folkways]] album: ''Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (1959)''. Tudor also performs on several recordings of Cage's music, including the Mainstream record of ''Cartridge Music'', the recording on Columbia Records of ''Variations II'', and the two Everest records of ''Variations IV''. Tudor selected the works to be performed for the 25th Anniversary{{of what?|date=November 2021}} Retrospective Concert of the music of John Cage (May 16, 1958), and performed in the premiere of the ''Concert For Piano and Orchestra'' given as the closing work for that concert. Moreover, Tudor received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (1992).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/david-tudor|title=David Tudor :: Foundation for Contemporary Arts|website=www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org|access-date=April 5, 2018}}</ref>

After a stint teaching at [[Darmstadt New Music Summer School|Darmstadt]] from 1956 to 1961, Tudor began to wind up his activities as a pianist to concentrate on composing. He wrote mostly [[electronic music|electronic]] works, many commissioned by Cage's partner, choreographer [[Merce Cunningham]]. His homemade musical circuits are considered landmarks in live electronic music and electrical instrument building as a form of composition. One piece, ''Reunion'' (1968), written jointly with [[Lowell Cross]] features a [[chess]] game, where each move triggers a lighting effect or projection. At the premiere, the game was played between John Cage and [[Marcel Duchamp]]. ''Reunion'' is erroneously attributed to Cage in [[James Pritchett (writer)|James Pritchett]]'s book ''The Music Of John Cage''. ''Rain Forest'' is a sound installation created from constructed sculpture and everyday objects such as a metal barrel, a vintage computer disk, and plastic tubing which served as a musical accompaniment. (David Tudor and Composers Inside Electronics Inc.: Rain forest V (variation 1))

In 1969, Tudor set up India's first electronic music studio at the [[National Institute of Design]] in Ahmedabad.<ref>{{cite web |last=Keefe |first=Alexander |title=Subcontinental Synth: David Tudor and the First Moog in India |url=http://www.eastofborneo.org/articles/subcontinental-synth-david-tudor-and-the-first-moog-in-india |publisher=East of Borneo |access-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref>

Upon Cage's death in 1992, Tudor took over as music director of the [[Merce Cunningham Dance Company]]. Among many works created for the company, Tudor composed ''Soundings: Ocean Diary'' (1994), the electronic component of ''Ocean'', which was conceived by John Cage and Merce Cunningham, with [[choreography]] by Merce Cunningham, orchestral music by [[Andrew Culver (composer)|Andrew Culver]] and design by [[Marsha Skinner]].

Tudor died after a series of strokes in [[Tomkins Cove, New York]] at the age of 70.<ref name= "nytobit">{{cite news |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/15/arts/david-tudor-70-electronic-composer-dies.html |title=David Tudor, 70, Electronic Composer, Dies |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 15, 1996 |access-date=July 1, 2019}}</ref>