Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

[San Antone]

I think this recording is one any Feldman fan should own.

[asin]B0007XGPNG[/asin]

It contains all the  music he wrote using graphical notation, including the seminal Intersection 3.  About the only thing I wish were different, would be to have David Tudor playing the piano works.  But, the performances are well done.

[Pessoa]

Very nice The Straits of Magellan.

[madaboutmahler]

Have always been keen to explore this composer so will be starting to do so more now. Have just listened to Rothko Chapel for the first time and am pretty speechless. So haunting and mystical, yet so gorgeous.

Can I have some more recommendations?

[Henk]

Just downloaded this one for E 0,49 on E-music. It has 3 5-star reviews.

[San Antone]

Have always been keen to explore this composer so will be starting to do so more now. Have just listened to Rothko Chapel for the first time and am pretty speechless. So haunting and mystical, yet so gorgeous.

Can I have some more recommendations?

Morton Feldman Topic on YouTube

If you click on the Video tab, and then click the arrow next to "Posted Videos"; the selection for Playlists will display.  Clicking on this will show you two playlists, one with 64 videos, labeled Popular Morton Feldman Videos. 

[snyprrr]

Just downloaded this one for E 0,49 on E-music. It has 3 5-star reviews.

awesome!

[madaboutmahler]

Morton Feldman Topic on YouTube

If you click on the Video tab, and then click the arrow next to "Posted Videos"; the selection for Playlists will display.  Clicking on this will show you two playlists, one with 64 videos, labeled Popular Morton Feldman Videos.

Thank you for this, will go through it. Currently listening to 'For Bunita Marcus'. Gorgeous. Despite the length, you just forget about any structural concerts and are completely hypnotised and enchanted by how hauntingly beautiful this music is..

Do you have any personal favourites?

[San Antone]

Thank you for this, will go through it. Currently listening to 'For Bunita Marcus'. Gorgeous. Despite the length, you just forget about any structural concerts and are completely hypnotised and enchanted by how hauntingly beautiful this music is..

Do you have any personal favourites?

I don't really, but the pieces from his graphical notated period are some of the ones I listen more often than others.

Morton Feldman - Edition 9 - Composing by Numbers
The Barton Workshop plays graphic scores

[snyprrr]

I think this recording is one any Feldman fan should own.

[asin]B0007XGPNG[/asin]

It contains all the  music he wrote using graphical notation, including the seminal Intersection 3.  About the only thing I wish were different, would be to have David Tudor playing the piano works.  But, the performances are well done.

I like the other Barton Workshop 3cd on Etcetera "The Ecstasy of the Moment" (wow, took me FIVE tries to spell ecstasy... ayeayeaye).. Isn't there a bunch of duplication?

[snyprrr]

Feldman has two manifestations of his late style:

a) the melodic fragment that gets looked at from all sides, a la 'Piano and String Quartet'.

b) the mushy, much greyer version which doesn't have a melodic hook, sounding more like shifting sands, a la 'Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano'.

There. Done!

[Karl Henning]

The greyer is definitely the deleterious influnce of life in Buffalo

[snyprrr]

The greyer is definitely the deleterious influnce of life in Buffalo

I can see that. His music caaan sound like a dreary snow day!

[EigenUser]

I've recently discovered Feldman's "Rothko Chapel" and I like it a lot. Can anyone with a good knowledge of his music recommend a similar work that would be a good place to start exploring his music further?

[Mirror Image]

I've recently discovered Feldman's "Rothko Chapel" and I like it a lot. Can anyone with a good knowledge of his music recommend a similar work that would be a good place to start exploring his music further?

I would check out For Franz Kline. It doesn't have a chorus, but it contains a lone voice set against an instrumental ensemble. Very cool piece.

http://www.youtube.com/v/DDuGj80TrVE

I'm not a big Feldman fan, but I do admire a few of his works and his general attitude about music, which he just composed music that he wanted to and didn't worry about anything else.

[EigenUser]

I tend to like choir as opposed to solo voice. Even considering that, though, I liked "For Franz Kline" more than I thought I would at first. I'm listening to Feldman's "Coptic Light" right now, but I can't say I like it all that much as of now. It's impossible to tell, though, because I have many favorite 20th-century works that took me awhile to warm up to.

His composition philosophy sounds like Ligeti's. I'll post an interesting interview with Ligeti in his thread, which sheds some light on this.

[Mirror Image]

I tend to like choir as opposed to solo voice. Even considering that, though, I liked "For Franz Kline" more than I thought I would at first. I'm listening to Feldman's "Coptic Light" right now, but I can't say I like it all that much as of now. It's impossible to tell, though, because I have many favorite 20th-century works that took me awhile to warm up to.

His composition philosophy sounds like Ligeti's. I'll post an interesting interview with Ligeti in his thread, which sheds some light on this.

Glad you enjoyed For Franz Kline. I wouldn't say that I liked Coptic Light on first listen either, but I still remain rather indifferent to a lot of Feldman's music. Now, Ligeti, on the other hand, I enjoy a great deal.

[amw]

This may or may not be a recommendation ( ) but my first exposure to Feldman was through a live NYC performance of the (anti-)opera Neither, which I immediately disliked, but which I've also never been able to forget. Even now I can still summon its sound-world before my ears. (I've warmed up to Feldman since, but it took probably 4-5 years.) I think there's a recording on hatART, don't know about a DVD.

[San Antone]

Morton Feldman - String Quartet & Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/v/CQ3QK4OjAM8

https://www.youtube.com/v/rtwh2oj_9dM

[San Antone]

Morton Feldman - Durations 3, I-II | for tuba, violin & piano (1961)

https://www.youtube.com/v/pcDanj3b5ng

In the series of pieces called Durations, Feldman notated only the noteheads indicating the pitch but not duration, allowing the performers to determine the how they would interpret the note's duration.  However, he was specific about other attributes of the music, most notably, texture, i.e. how the instruments were to sound as an ensemble.

I particularly like the instruments he used in these two works.

[EigenUser]

Thanks for the suggestions! I am enjoying the "String Quartet and Orchestra" right now. I still think that I like "Rothko Chapel" best so far, but it always takes me some time to understand modern music (even though it's my favorite genre) and it's good for me to get recommendations and to discover new things.

For some reason, I am tentative about music that is indeterminate. It sounds silly, but I think that it is from being aware that it is indeterminate as opposed to the resulting sound. I'll have to try and forget about this when I listen to "Durations" next.