Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

Started by bhodges, March 12, 2008, 10:57:40 AM

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staxomega

Quote from: JBS on September 28, 2020, 06:17:15 PM
I just got that Levitt CD, and Palais de Mari is probably the most impressive work on it.  (That is is by far the longest individual piece may have something to do with that.)
It's the first Feldman work I have heard (albeit I haven't heard that much by him) that made me want to listen to it again.

I would say Palais de Mari was the most interesting thing on it. Prior to getting interested in Feldman again I was mostly in it for the Bach/Busoni Chorale Preludes, I was not taken by the performances on first listen... just sounded too homogeneous and same. I hope I change my mind on them since my favorite performances are all incomplete recordings.

I've been listening to the Philip Thomas Complete Piano Music box from Another Timbre and also enjoying this much more this time around. Triadic Memories is the best thing I've heard so far.

vers la flamme

Quote from: hvbias on October 02, 2020, 02:32:49 PM
I've been listening to the Philip Thomas Complete Piano Music box from Another Timbre and also enjoying this much more this time around. Triadic Memories is the best thing I've heard so far.

I really want that set, but don't know if I'm ready to drop 50 bucks on it just yet. I haven't found much inspiration in Feldman's solo piano music thus far.

T. D.

Quote from: vers la flamme on October 04, 2020, 03:58:12 PM
I really want that set, but don't know if I'm ready to drop 50 bucks on it just yet. I haven't found much inspiration in Feldman's solo piano music thus far.

I agree with the above post about Triadic Memories being a fantastic piece.
And...it just so happens that Louis Goldstein's excellent and long oop recording (which I purchased upon release) is on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY4hczcLp3g

Maybe you could use that as a litmus test. Buy the box or not depending on how much you like Goldstein's T M. I expect Philip Thomas's performance would be comparably good. Goldstein and Thomas are also outstanding Cage interpreters, but that's a subject for other threads...

Old San Antone

Quote from: hvbias on October 02, 2020, 02:32:49 PM
I would say Palais de Mari was the most interesting thing on it. Prior to getting interested in Feldman again I was mostly in it for the Bach/Busoni Chorale Preludes, I was not taken by the performances on first listen... just sounded too homogeneous and same. I hope I change my mind on them since my favorite performances are all incomplete recordings.

I've been listening to the Philip Thomas Complete Piano Music box from Another Timbre and also enjoying this much more this time around. Triadic Memories is the best thing I've heard so far.

I had been thinking about ordering that set, but then completely forgot about it until I read your post.  I went ahead and ordered it, and am now looking forward to its arrival.

8)

staxomega

#684
Quote from: vers la flamme on October 04, 2020, 03:58:12 PM
I really want that set, but don't know if I'm ready to drop 50 bucks on it just yet. I haven't found much inspiration in Feldman's solo piano music thus far.

This must have been one of my "drinking 140 proof bourbon purchases", nearly did that last week with a set of speakers that cost significantly more than my first car  :laugh:

Buzzed purchase aside I'm just a bit of a piano nerd so it was interesting to me. String Quartet 2 sort of flipped my whole world around and reframed Feldman's music anew for me so I've been enjoying it more now, I didn't even make it all the way through it the first time.

I've been listening to some of the Cage number pieces, mostly Two 2 and I'm not really getting this right now. I started thinking that I liked one that was ~ 45 minutes on Youtube compared to the hour plus recording on Another Timbre, and had me asking do I really like Cage if I prefer the shorter one  ;D

Old San Antone - enjoy!

Old San Antone

Quote from: hvbias on October 04, 2020, 05:24:23 PM
This must have been one of my "drinking 140 proof bourbon purchases", nearly did that last week with a set of speakers that cost significantly more than my first car  :laugh:

Buzzed purchase aside I'm just a bit of a piano nerd so it was interesting to me. String Quartet 2 sort of flipped my whole world around and reframed Feldman's music anew for me so I've been enjoying it more now, I didn't even make it all the way through it the first time.

I've been listening to some of the Cage number pieces, mostly Two 2 and I'm not really getting this right now. I started thinking that I liked one that was ~ 45 minutes on Youtube compared to the hour plus recording on Another Timbre, and had me asking do I really like Cage if I prefer the shorter one  ;D

Old San Antone - enjoy!

I have the Barton Workshop  Cage number pieces box, and it's one of my favorite purchases.  I fully expect to enjoy the Feldman piano box similarly.

Daverz


Mandryka

I listened to Last Piano, a set of four pieces from 1959, played by Philip Thomas and by John Tilbury. I think Philip Thomas is too slow. Is Tilbury too fast? Quite possibly.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme

I've ordered Aki Takahashi playing Palais de Mari and several other piano works as part of the Mode Feldman Edition. Managed to find a copy for under 10 bucks, which is always a win for a Feldman recording. I love this label. They have similar editions for Cage and Xenakis (possibly other composers) and it's all great. Hopefully this will help me click with Feldman piano music. The composer is on record admiring Ms. Takahashi's playing. It's one of the longer PdM's out there at over 29 minutes.


Old San Antone

Here's and excerpt of Philip Thomas playing Triadic Memories.

https://www.youtube.com/v/6baxt0EOhgo

Old San Antone

Quote from: vers la flamme on October 05, 2020, 02:35:58 AM
I've ordered Aki Takahashi playing Palais de Mari and several other piano works as part of the Mode Feldman Edition. Managed to find a copy for under 10 bucks, which is always a win for a Feldman recording. I love this label. They have similar editions for Cage and Xenakis (possibly other composers) and it's all great. Hopefully this will help me click with Feldman piano music. The composer is on record admiring Ms. Takahashi's playing. It's one of the longer PdM's out there at over 29 minutes.

I usually like Aki Takahashi's recordings of Feldman and Cage.  Hope his Palais de Mari does it for you.

Mandryka

Quote from: Old San Antone on October 05, 2020, 03:40:06 AM
I usually like Aki Takahashi's recordings of Feldman and Cage.  Hope his Palais de Mari does it for you.

her
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#692
Quote from: vers la flamme on October 05, 2020, 02:35:58 AM
I've ordered Aki Takahashi playing Palais de Mari and several other piano works as part of the Mode Feldman Edition. Managed to find a copy for under 10 bucks, which is always a win for a Feldman recording. I love this label. They have similar editions for Cage and Xenakis (possibly other composers) and it's all great. Hopefully this will help me click with Feldman piano music. The composer is on record admiring Ms. Takahashi's playing. It's one of the longer PdM's out there at over 29 minutes.

well here it is

https://www.youtube.com/v/46X7s2T93XY&ab_channel=Pourceuxquelelangagead%C3%A9sert%C3%A9s

and here's what he said

QuoteTakahashi appears to be absolutely still.
Undisturbed, unperturbed, as if in a
concentrated prayer. Kafka writes about
approaching his work as if in a state of
prayer....The effect of her playing to me
is that I feel privileged to be invited to a
very religious ritual


To me, that just shows how subjective responses are -- I just don't hear what Feldman heard in the performance.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Old San Antone


Mandryka

#694
Ha

Here's a pimped up Triadic Memories -- makes me want to go back to San Francisco -- come on medics, find a vaccine quick!

https://www.youtube.com/v/vAkKzBidoHs&ab_channel=TheLabSF
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

amw

Quote from: Old San Antone on October 05, 2020, 05:48:17 AM
Oops.  I haven't focused on her appearance, obviously.   ::)
To be fair her brother is Yuji Takahashi, also a very good pianist associated with experimental repertoire (though not much Feldman in particular from him I don't think) and I know I've confused the two of them before. They have a joint recording of some Cage piano pieces which is quite interesting.

Off topic though....

vers la flamme

#696
Quote from: Mandryka on October 05, 2020, 05:46:16 AM
well here it is

https://www.youtube.com/v/46X7s2T93XY&ab_channel=Pourceuxquelelangagead%C3%A9sert%C3%A9s

and here's what he said


To me, that just shows how subjective responses are -- I just don't hear what Feldman heard in the performance.

Why is Ms. Takahashi's Triadic Memories so much shorter than the others out there (at 61:18)? Marilyn Nonken on Mode is 93:48, Roger Woodward is 87:33, Sabine Liebner on Oehms is over two hours! Does she rush terribly?  ;D

Why on earth is there such a wide variety of Feldman recordings out there compared to virtually any other late C20 composer?! I love it, I can't complain in the slightest, other than the fact that I have to choose between 10 artists I've never heard of for any given work, but it seems unfair to the other great talents out there.

vers la flamme

Thoughts on Feldman orchestral music, anyone? Seems his chamber music gets the vast majority of the attention. I just picked up this:



Only heard Flute and Orchestra thus far. Pretty nice, if a little episodic. Considering how spacious Feldman can make three instruments sound (or even just one), it should come as no surprise that this music is absolutely massive, maybe too much so. I guess the emphasis on the soloist (whose part sounds quite simple) kind of keeps the music anchored to the ground.

T. D.

#698
Quote from: vers la flamme on October 05, 2020, 03:17:40 PM
Thoughts on Feldman orchestral music, anyone? Seems his chamber music gets the vast majority of the attention. I just picked up this:



Only heard Flute and Orchestra thus far. Pretty nice, if a little episodic. Considering how spacious Feldman can make three instruments sound (or even just one), it should come as no surprise that this music is absolutely massive, maybe too much so. I guess the emphasis on the soloist (whose part sounds quite simple) kind of keeps the music anchored to the ground.

I've always been more into Feldman's chamber/solo works than orchestral, but that's my general preference, not just Feldman.
This cpo set was the first Feldman recording I bought. It's early, premieres or close, recorded (1970s) well before the "Feldman boom".
I think the set is pretty good but not a barn-burner. More recent recordings would likely be preferable, but iirc this box contains the only available recording of at least one of the pieces. [Added: This is the only recording of "Flute + O" I know of. There was an Argo CD with "Cello" and "Piano" and a Hat Art CD entitled Atlantis with "Oboe". But these do seem under-recorded compared to much of Feldman's oeuvre.  ;) ]
In the orchestral genre, these "instrument + orchestra" pieces seem to get far less attention than Coptic Light, Rothko Chapel, etc. I haven't listened to the various works often enough to opine on the justification for that. OTOH, I like Zender and Palm and consider Woodward always worth hearing, so don't regret my purchase.

Mandryka

#699
Quote from: vers la flamme on October 05, 2020, 02:11:15 PM
Why is Ms. Takahashi's Triadic Memories so much shorter than the others out there (at 61:18)? Marilyn Nonken on Mode is 93:48, Roger Woodward is 87:33, Sabine Liebner on Oehms is over two hours! Does she rush terribly?  ;D

Why on earth is there such a wide variety of Feldman recordings out there compared to virtually any other late C20 composer?! I love it, I can't complain in the slightest, other than the fact that I have to choose between 10 artists I've never heard of for any given work, but it seems unfair to the other great talents out there.

Did late Feldman write tempo indications? What seems most strange is how, given the speed, Feldman could have said the interpretation is prayerful. Maybe I don't understand prayer, maybe he was talking about a performance very different than the one on record, maybe he was just out of his head when he said that . . .
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen