Tui St. George Tucker, 1924 - 2004

I am sorry to report that Tui St. George Tucker passed away earlier this week. Tui was a microtonal composer who worked in 24-tET as well as the "normal" 12-tET. She kept two pianos aligned at right angles, tuned a quarter tone apart, in the corner of the main room of her house at Camp Catawba, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Blowing Rock NC, and would hold soirees there in which everyone was expected to perform. It was at one of those that my own adaptive tuning work was first aired (not to wild applause, I'm sorry to say! ;-> ) in the early '90's.

My wife and I last visited Tui in late March. She was looking frail, but her mind was sharp and her voice robust. She was still expressing the hope that she'd live to see the premier of her Requiem, for which she has a champion at Appalachian State University. The work is difficult, however, and it was not clear if the combined orchestra and choir could be assembled.

There are several people on this list whose lives Tui touched, directly or indirectly, and some of them could write a much better bio than I.

Tui was a woman of strong opinions, and she could be very prickly. She was descended from a famous British warrior, and that warrior spirit lived inside her, I think. It resonates through her music.

I have quite a few CD's of Tui's work, some available commercially and some self-published. If anyone is interested, write me off-list and I'll be glad to share copies of the self-published ones.

I thank Murphy, the God of Chance, for making my path cross Tui's in 1992. Knowing her has enriched my life, and I will miss her.

JdL