David Tudor: from piano to electronics | Haize Lizarazu and Anxe Faraldo

PROGRAMME:

Morton Feldman: Intermission 5 [5’] — solo piano
Earle Brown: December 1952 [6’] — solo piano
John Cage / David Tudor: Variations II [20’] — piano and electronics
David Tudor / La Membrana: Rainforest D [20’] — live electronics

David Tudor (1926–1996) is undoubtedly an essential figure for understanding avant-garde music and experimental electronics in the twentieth century. A virtuoso pianist associated with the New York School, he is widely known as John Cage’s lifelong collaborator, as well as the remarkable pianist who brought to life numerous graphic scores and indeterminate works from the post-war period. From the 1960s onwards, however, the pianist began replacing the keys and strings of his instrument with electrical circuits and signals of his own making.

In 2026, the centenary of his birth, we present a project that brings the two sides of this great musician to the stage. The result of historical and musicological research, David Tudor: from piano to electronics aims to shed light on the American musician’s major contribution to the sonic arts. To do so, we focus on works that were significant during his career as a pianist, alongside live electronic music performances using circuits reimagined by us.

Given the nature of the works presented, this is an undertaking of reinterpretation and recomposition. Nothing heard today will have sounded exactly the same in Tudor’s hands, and yet everything stems from his ideas and concepts. The collaborative work of Haize Lizarazu and Anxe Faraldo begins with documentary research and the archival collection of original sources. Tracing Tudor’s path back to its beginnings, we offer a perspective on the two musical identities of the artist, highlighting the significance of his artistic evolution.