Cornelius Cardew

Cardew spent eight years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral before enrolling at the RAM. In 1957 the academy granted him a scholarship for studies in electronic music in Köln. From 1958 to 1960 he worked as Stockhausen’s assistant and joined him in composing Carré. After working for a time as a graphic designer, he was appointed professor of composition at the RAM in 1967.

Drawing on ideas from Cage and Tudor, Cardew pursued the notion of performer involvement in shaping a piece. He wrote music open to multiple realizations, using notation that only suggested possible readings of the score. His principal work in this vein is the graphic score Treatise (1963–7), whose performers convert their visual impressions of the pages into sound; the same score may equally be viewed as an abstract visual artwork.

Cardew also appeared frequently in performances of music by Stockhausen, Cage, Feldman and Wolff. Alongside pianist John Tilbury he gained recognition as a leading interpreter of experimental and indeterminate music in England.