The Art of David Tudor

David Tudor, 1972. Photo: James Klosty

A substantial selection of music of experimental composer David Tudor (1926-1996) has been collected and is being released as a seven disc set on New World Records titled The Art of David Tudor. A release party celebrating this historic collection is scheduled for Sunday, May 12, 5-7pm at the Emily Harvey Foundation (537 Broadway @ Spring Street). RSVP: kluverb@verizon.net or 908-322-5683. Norte Maar has taken special interest in promoting the work of experimental sound since producing our centennial series Cage Transmitted last year.The release marks the first truly comprehensive survey of Tudor's work as a composer, going beyond any previous attempt to document his transition from pianist to composer. The box set covers Tudor's output from 1963 to 1992 capturing Tudor's touch and sensitivity offering an expansive and previously unavailable view onto more than three decades of Tudor's astonishingly original work as an electronic musician.New World's Paul Tai says: "What prompted us to consider this was the tremendous reception his pieces got when Music For Merce was released a couple of years ago. Six of those works were issued in excerpted form so we decided to issue them in complete form and build the set around them. It’s really the first comprehensive overview of his work as an electronic music composer."As The Wire recently reported, the accompanying notes on the compilation include a sizeable essay by artist and composer Matt Rogalsky, and also an essay by Gordon Mumma. Rogalsky writes: "Tudor’s identity morphed seamlessly from interpreter of mainly acoustic music to composer-performer of predominately electronic music over a period of about ten years, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. This set of seven CDs goes beyond any previous attempt to document that process of transformation."The Art Of David Tudor covers most of Tudor's creative life and includes performances of his own pieces, including Bandoneon!, Weatherings, Phonemes, Virtual Focus, Webwork, two versions of Rainforest IV recorded in 1980 and 1990, plus audio recorded from his installation in the Pepsi Pavilion from Expo 70 in Osaka, Neural Network Plus with Takehisa Kosugi, plus performances with John Cage, and pieces by Cage and Christian Wolff. New World releases The Art Of David Tudor in May in the US, and June in the UK. More details available at New World Records. Read more on David Tudor here.