Music from the Tudorfest: San Francisco Tape Music Center, 1964

The experience of working with David Tudor had a large and lasting impact on me and all associated with the Tudorfest performances, David was a master musician. He taught patience, perseverance, and listening by his actions and preparations for the performances, and mostly without words. -Pauline Oliveros

In the spring of 1964 Pauline Oliveros organized a festival celebrating the work of pianist David Tudor, which featured compositions by Oliveros, George Brecht, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Alvin Lucier, and John Cage. The Tudorfest was a watershed event in the brief history of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, which not only provided its members with an opportunity to collaborate with Tudor, but also to promote their own work. Co-sponsored by KPFA, the Tudorfest demonstrated the artistic diversity of the avant-garde, from the minimalistic explorations of barely audible piano sounds (played by Oliveros and Tudor) in Ichiyanagi's Music for Piano No. 4 (1960) to the instrumental chaos of Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58) and Atlas Eclipticalis (1961), the often thunderous electronic outbursts in Tudor's interpretations of Cage's Cartridge Music (1960) and Variations II (1961). Oliveros's collaboration with Tudor, Duo for Accordion and Bandoneon and Possible Mynah Bird Obbligato (1963-64) combined theatrical elements, improvisation, and a mynah bird named "Ahmed." The Tudorfest placed the Tape Music Center at the forefront of developments in new music around the country. Its success owed a great deal to David Tudor's influence (see the above quote). The performances on this 3-CD set have never been previously issued. It is the definitive document of this seminal event and constitutes a major addition to the discography of American experimental music.