We report on a study of the invariant mass spectrum of the hadronic system
in the decay tau(-) --> pi(-) pi(0) nu(tau). This study was performed with
data obtained with the CLEO II detector operating at the CESR e(+)e(-) coll
ider. We present fits to phenomenological models in which resonance paramet
ers associated with the rho(770) and rho(1450) mesons are determined. The p
i(-) pi(0) spectral function inferred from the invariant mass spectrum is c
ompared with data on e(+)e(-) --> pi(+) pi(-) as a test of the conserved ve
ctor current theorem. We also discuss the implications of our data with reg
ard to estimates of the hadronic contribution to the muon anomalous magneti
c moment.