Use Restrictions

There are no other restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Photograph of John Cage, Gordon Mumma, and David Tudor at a concert rehearsal must be obtained from Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Photograph of John Cage, Gordon Mumma, and David Tudor at a concert rehearsal, C0494, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Purchased by Steve Gerber in July 2018 from Schubertiade Music.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Amanda Brent in November 2021. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in November 2021. This item was formerly part of the Performing Arts Manuscript Materials collection, C0215.

Biographical Note

John Cage, Gordon Mumma, and David Tudor were frequent collaborators, and were particularly known for their time in the late 1960s - early 1970s as composer-musicians with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York.

John Cage was an American avant-garde musician and composer. Born in 1912, Cage was known for his experimental music. Zen Buddhism heavily influenced his musical composition, with Cage eventually creating the theory of indeterminism in music, or music "which chance or indeterminate elements are left for the performer to realize" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Cage passed away in 1992.

Gordon Mumma is an American experimental musician and composer. Born in 1935, Mumma mostly played and composed piano, and has toured his music internationally. In addition to his collaborations with Cage and Tudor, Mumma was a professor of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 1975 - 1994.

David Tudor was an American avant-garde musician and composer. Born in 1926, Tudor's musical focus was piano and like his collaborators Cage and Mumma, mostly composed electronic music. Tudor toured internationally and was respected in the avant-garde music world. Tudor passed away in 1996.

Scope and Content

Black and white photograph of John Cage, Gordon Mumma, and David Tudor at a concert rehearsal, taken July 5, 1968. The picture features, from left to right, Mumma, Cage, and Tudor sitting and standing behind electronic music equipment as they adjust parts of the equipment with their hands. On the verso is a news clipping which gives the date and reads: "Concert Rehearsal - Electronic Style[.] John Cage, center, famed electronic composer, prepares for a concert at the University of Colorado Music Hall. With him are Gordon Mumma, left, whose piece "Home" was to be performed, and David Tudor, busy with the intricate connections demanded by the maze of electronic equipment for production."

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center holds many other materials on music, musicians, and composers.

Northwestern University Music Library holds the John Cage Collection and the Gordon Mumma papers.

The Getty Research Institute Special Collections holds the David Tudor papers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Cage, John
• Mumma, Gordon, 1935-
• Music
• Photography
• Tudor, David, 1926-1996