Article: David Tudor, 1926-1996

Meticulous perfectionist and inscrutable recluse, David Tudor exercised more influence on the course of avant-garde music than any other performer. As Italian composer Sylvano Bussotti said of him, Tudor wasn't merely a pianist, but "a musical instrument." John Cage, his closest associate in the '50s and '60s, tells incredible stories in his book Silence of Tudor's attention to detail, including one about how Tudor separated out with tweezers and magnifying glass a box of spices that had become intermingled. That fanaticism made Tudor the perfect pianist for an era characterized by unprecedented notational freedom and ambiguity. Measuring out graphic notations with a millimeter ruler, ...

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