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This review of a recital David Tudor delivered at New York University’s Maison Française immediately provides one with a sense of the strength of Tudor’s reputation. The author credits Tudor with being not only an excellent performer but also someone with exemplary skills in being able to “read” and “comprehend” these works. That is, the question of basic musical literacy is at stake. Can this material be read? Tudor’s reputation is that of a person who has both the physical ability and the intellectual capacity for decoding customized, esoteric, and future-oriented musical systems. The author ends the review with a remarkably philosophical explanation of the music, one that weaves together nihilism, futurism, and necessity: “The philosophic implications of works like these may be disturbingly nihilist. So be it. Whatever their motivation, the pieces are giving us new and usable procedures to add to our musical vocabulary. This, if nothing else, makes them valid.”