Trained in piano and organ, as well as music composition, Tudor established himself in the 1950s as the premier pianist for avant-garde music by giving first performances of major pieces by
Pierre Boulez
,
Earle Brown
,
John Cage
,
Karlheinz Stockhausen
, and
Christian Wolff
, among others. Indeed, before long, pieces were written especially for him, one composer reportedly joking that Tudor could play the raisins in a slice of fruitcake...