David Tudor and the Sound of Anthroposophy
Douglas A. Kahn · 2001
Did David Tudor let sounds be themselves? Despite working closely with John Cage is there reason to believe that Tudor maintained similar ideas about sounds or, if he did, that he maintained them under similar rationale? While Cage entertained South Asian, East Asian and perennial philosophies Tudor was commited to the “spiritual science” of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy. From Kandinsky to Beuys, there were a number of artists during the 20th cenutury who were interested in Anthroposophy, just as interest in Theosophy seemed to be almost the rule instead of the exception among modernist composers in the United States in the early part of the century. But how committed was Tudor and how well could Anthroposophy accommodate the concerns of post-war experimentalism in music? The present paper will address these issues and identify others as they were manifested in the correspondence between Tudor and M. C. Richards during the period of their marriage during the 1950s and 60s.