Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

[Symphonic Addict]

His facial gestures say it all. I fear for his mental health.

[Atriod]

"Neither" has probably been the fastest I've come to enjoy a Feldman piece, I loved it the first time I heard it. Also in my heavy rotation this week was this CD of For John Cage from Darragh Morgan/John Tilbury that came out last year, so far the finest performance I've heard for it. Seems like the CD was only available for a very short time, but the download is still up.

Found another amazing performance of For John Cage that I now prefer to Morgan/Tilbury:



And Apartment House have recorded Violin and String Quartet, it will be coming out in June.

[Atriod]

Sample of Violin and String Quartet. Pretty much an instant buy, I've never heard this work before. I'm glad that Simon said the Feldman CDs sell very well.

[vers la flamme]

Sample of Violin and String Quartet. Pretty much an instant buy, I've never heard this work before. I'm glad that Simon said the Feldman CDs sell very well.

Nice. Prompted me to put on the Apartment House recording of Piano & String Quartet, which I bought when it came out but have seldom heard since.

Edit: Violin and SQ is well over two hours, wow! Did not know that was such a long piece.

[vers la flamme]

Thoughts on this? It's available cheaply at the moment.

[Atriod]

Thoughts on this? It's available cheaply at the moment.

I've never heard these performances, if you're asking about the late piano works in general then For Bunita Marcus and Triadic Memories are a must hear.

[vers la flamme]

I've never heard these performances, if you're asking about the late piano works in general then For Bunita Marcus and Triadic Memories are a must hear.

I've heard For Bunita Marcus but not Triadic Memories. Was more so asking about the performances themselves. I'm also considering getting Aki Takahashi's recording of FBM, but this Kairos set is three discs for the same price.

[Mandryka]

I've heard For Bunita Marcus but not Triadic Memories. Was more so asking about the performances themselves. I'm also considering getting Aki Takahashi's recording of FBM, but this Kairos set is three discs for the same price.

Just download this

https://www.jtilbury.com/morton-feldman/#Triadic-Memories

Which is, I think, the same as this

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/a/atp12013a.php

If it's isn't, don't download it. It's the Atopos  recording which I have.

[T. D.]

I think Triadic Memories is fantastic, one of my very favorite Feldman pieces.

But I saw an interesting article that describes a performance / score (manuscript vs. typeset) issue.

https://rosewhitemusic.com/piano/2015/10/07/a-question-about-rhythm-in-triadic-memories/

So I really want to get either the Roger Woodward or Aki Takahashi recording, but haven't gotten around to it yet  ...In the meantime I very much like Louis Goldstein, though you might have to contact him personally for his oop recording (coupled with Cage's One^5).

There are many excellent recordings by fine pianists out there, so it winds up being a matter of taste. At this point I'm mainly interested in a performance of the manuscript score. Beyond that I'd be more likely to check out recordings with the most extreme tempi, either slow or fast.

[Atriod]

I think Triadic Memories is fantastic, one of my very favorite Feldman pieces.

But I saw an interesting article that describes a performance / score (manuscript vs. typeset) issue.

https://rosewhitemusic.com/piano/2015/10/07/a-question-about-rhythm-in-triadic-memories/

So I really want to get either the Roger Woodward or Aki Takahashi recording, but haven't gotten around to it yet  ...In the meantime I very much like Louis Goldstein, though you might have to contact him personally for his oop recording (coupled with Cage's One^5).

There are many excellent recordings by fine pianists out there, so it winds up being a matter of taste. At this point I'm mainly interested in a performance of the manuscript score. Beyond that I'd be more likely to check out recordings with the most extreme tempi, either slow or fast.

We discussed it on the previous page  I continue to prefer the incorrect version for the reason that it sounds less busy. My favorite performance is from Sabine Liebner.

[vers la flamme]

We discussed it on the previous page  I continue to prefer the incorrect version for the reason that it sounds less busy. My favorite performance is from Sabine Liebner.

By incorrect do you mean the typeset way? As opposed to the way Takahashi plays it?

That 10 second clip of her performance as cited in the blog post sounds amazing. I wish the recording were available as a download, as there's no way I'm going to pay to have it imported from Japan.

Edit: Sabine Liebner clocks in at over two hours. Is hers the longest, or far from it?

Edit 2: I just got a ticket to an all-Feldman recital in September in New York, a month after I am to move there. The program is Extensions 1, Projection 1, Vertical Thoughts 2, Piano Piece (to Philip Guston), and Spring of Chosroes. All earlier works besides the finale. I'm excited already.

Edit 3: Having just finished Crippled Symmetry, I think I have strengthened my belief that it is my favorite work of his. What an utterly fascinating piece. Somehow it keeps my attention start to finish, and flies by for all its length. Something I've noticed while listening to Feldman is that occasionally when I look at the time on my audio player and see how much has gone by, it's always so much longer than what I thought. I'll feel like I'm just starting and 12 minutes have passed.

[Atriod]

By incorrect do you mean the typeset way? As opposed to the way Takahashi plays it?

That 10 second clip of her performance as cited in the blog post sounds amazing. I wish the recording were available as a download, as there's no way I'm going to pay to have it imported from Japan.

Edit: Sabine Liebner clocks in at over two hours. Is hers the longest, or far from it?

Edit 2: I just got a ticket to an all-Feldman recital in September in New York, a month after I am to move there. The program is Extensions 1, Projection 1, Vertical Thoughts 2, Piano Piece (to Philip Guston), and Spring of Chosroes. All earlier works besides the finale. I'm excited already.

Edit 3: Having just finished Crippled Symmetry, I think I have strengthened my belief that it is my favorite work of his. What an utterly fascinating piece. Somehow it keeps my attention start to finish, and flies by for all its length. Something I've noticed while listening to Feldman is that occasionally when I look at the time on my audio player and see how much has gone by, it's always so much longer than what I thought. I'll feel like I'm just starting and 12 minutes have passed.

Yes the incorrect typeset score. Takahashi plays what Feldman wrote. Feel free to message me if you want a rip of it, it's out of print and was a Japan only release, no artists are being hurt by me sharing it

[T. D.]

Both Takahashi and Woodward (manuscript score performances) are on Youtube. Takahashi is very fast (just over 1 hour), Woodward around 1hr 27min.

There might be others unknown to me.

[vers la flamme]

Morton Feldman, text Samuel Beckett: Words & Music. Ensemble Recherche, w/ Omar Ebrahim & Stephen Lind
 
Super weird piece, I don't even know what genre I would assign to it, but for some reason it sounds amazing right now. I got this as part of a lot with two other Feldman CDs, knowing nothing about it.

Does anyone know anything about this piece? Does anyone like it? Unlike anything else in Feldman's body of work, and I'm not sure I'll be listening to this one all the time, but it sounds super cool right now.

[brewski]

Does anyone know anything about this piece? Does anyone like it? Unlike anything else in Feldman's body of work, and I'm not sure I'll be listening to this one all the time, but it sounds super cool right now.

Never heard it, but now I'm intrigued! (Am overdue for some Feldman, anyway.)

-Bruce

[T. D.]

Does anyone know anything about this piece? Does anyone like it? Unlike anything else in Feldman's body of work, and I'm not sure I'll be listening to this one all the time, but it sounds super cool right now.

Yes, this may have been the first Feldman recording I purchased back in the '90s...either that or the Zender/cpo ...And Orchestra twofer.

It's a radio play. I consider it more a Beckett work than Feldman. The music doesn't play that big a role.
But it's quite good if you're into Beckett or Feldman.

I don't listen to it that often, because I'm not frequently in a Beckett mood (as I age, depressing material appeals less). But I never culled the recording.
It's on youtube.

There's a fair amount of information on the Internet.

The Beckett website "offers" an alternative recording together with a 20 minute documentary, but the "Order" link appears to be dead: https://www.samuel-beckett.net/radioev3.html

[T. D.]

The original radio play (broadcast 1962, music by John Beckett - cousin) is on a BBC compilation:

https://www.discogs.com/release/760361-Samuel-Beckett-Works-For-Radio-The-Original-Broadcasts

I haven't heard it.

[vers la flamme]

The original radio play (broadcast 1962, music by John Beckett - cousin) is on a BBC compilation:

https://www.discogs.com/release/760361-Samuel-Beckett-Works-For-Radio-The-Original-Broadcasts

I haven't heard it.

Ah, so the Feldman is a re-scoring of a pre-existing Beckett radio play?

[T. D.]

Ah, so the Feldman is a re-scoring of a pre-existing Beckett radio play?

Yes. Done with Beckett's approval of course: he and his estate were / are very strict about performances.

See for instance https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/veranstaltungen/words-and-music.2767/

[Artem]

It's a radio play. I consider it more a Beckett work than Feldman. The music doesn't play that big a role.
But it's quite good if you're into Beckett or Feldman.

Totally agree. It is a strangely compelling piece. I don't listen to it often, but when I do I am always fascinated by it. It's not that long, so that helps to appreciate the nature of it too.