Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

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

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not edward

Quote from: EigenUser on August 07, 2014, 05:42:59 PM
Has anyone heard this recording? I am listening to Cello and Orchestra, probably one of my favorite Feldman works, and I keep hearing this extraneous hissing noise in the background. I think I even heard a whistle, which is making me suspect that it is a disrespectful audience member (I'm pretty sure it is a live recording). What a shame.
[asin]B000001S2J[/asin]

By the way, does anyone hear a connection to Webern in Feldman's music (in general)? I was listening to his Orchestra and it is oddly similar to Webern's Six Pieces.
It is live, but it's a no-brainer collection IMO regardless. Good performances all around (supplementable in Piano and Cello by the MTT collection on Argo).
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

Karl Henning

Quote from: Catison on April 05, 2008, 09:53:57 AM
Who would have known, Mr. James doesn't like Feldman.  I hesitate to say this very often, but in this case, you simply don't get it.  His music isn't for you, but that is OK.  You don't have to like it.  Feldman was still a genius.

Quote from: lukeottevanger on April 05, 2008, 10:12:34 AM
Oh, I don't know, James seems to have observed that a fundamental principle of Feldman's music is repetition. He's got that far - and well done to him for noticing  ::) ::) Repetition isn't to James's tastes, it seems (though this is strange, as it is very much a stylistic principle of his own posts).

Smiling to revisit this thread, and these well-placed rebuttals.

This I found this morning, and an interestign (if brief) read.

Quote from: Morton FeldmanWhen I hear my own aleatory music today in a concert hall, I'm embarrassed, because it's not as 'successful' as the aleatory music of my students. It's simpler, it's different; it's not as interesting. The trouble with music composition as taught in colleges is that what you're learning has only one word: analysis. You're given models, and the implication is that there's a secret to learn that will help you compose. That's the first tragic assumption.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

milk

Quote from: karlhenning on August 27, 2014, 05:06:44 AM
Smiling to revisit this thread, and these well-placed rebuttals.

This I found this morning, and an interestign (if brief) read.
I see James mentions Rothko's Chapel as the only piece he could recommend. I like that piece, but it's not the piece I'm most attracted to and I think it's not nearly Feldman's most interesting work. James has the usual complaints, i.e. there's no "rhythmic momentum"; nothing's happening; it's like "watching paint dry" (gosh, it's the same thing Pauline Kael said about Eric Rohmer). Well, everyone has a right to their opinion. But I think there's so much happening in Feldman. I'm continually fascinated by the music. It's music I want to live with.
I like this quote:
"In my music I am ... involved with the decay of each sound, and try to make its attack sourceless. The attack of a sound is not its character. Actually, what we hear is the attack and not the sound. Decay, however, this departing landscape, this expresses where the sound exists in our hearing – leaving us rather than coming towards us."
   

Karl Henning

Quote from: milk on August 27, 2014, 06:52:16 AM
I see James mentions Rothko's Chapel as the only piece he could recommend. I like that piece, but it's not the piece I'm most attracted to and I think it's not nearly Feldman's most interesting work.

Agreed.

I also agree that it is an "inhabitable" sound world.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

For anyone that finds Feldman's music too difficult to sit through, it's a good idea to remember that you can do other stuff while listening.

In the right situation, his music can be the perfect background music. I can't even begin to describe how fitting something like Piano and String Quartet was when I was doing Dynamis in Final Fantasy 11. It's basically a dream world of familiar, pre-existing areas.


https://www.youtube.com/v/0_Q-1u6sNgQ

https://www.youtube.com/v/j7Yk0s2OUTM

Henk

Quote from: Greg on August 27, 2014, 09:04:39 AM
For anyone that finds Feldman's music too difficult to sit through, it's a good idea to remember that you can do other stuff while listening.

In the right situation, his music can be the perfect background music. I can't even begin to describe how fitting something like Piano and String Quartet was when I was doing Dynamis in Final Fantasy 11. It's basically a dream world of familiar, pre-existing areas.


https://www.youtube.com/v/0_Q-1u6sNgQ

https://www.youtube.com/v/j7Yk0s2OUTM

Background music, I take that as a negative qualification. I think his music is perfect for spending a night when you can't sleep, not to fall asleep, but to get relaxed through the night, calming, fall asleep maybe after listening.

EigenUser

Quote from: Henk on August 27, 2014, 09:11:02 AM
Background music, I take that as a negative qualification. I think his music is perfect for spending a night when you can't sleep, not to fall asleep, but to get relaxed through the night, calming, fall asleep maybe after listening.
Feldman makes great background music. I mean, I'm not going to lie and tell you all that I sit and stare at the wall while I listen to music -- I don't. I got to know Debussy's Jeux and La Mer intimately because these were the first two things on my iTunes playlist for "background music" that I'd play early in the morning while doing homework. I often paid as much attention to the music as I did to the homework and it made the overall experience more enjoyable and something to look forward to. I don't think that this counts as "wallpaper" music, which is more like a restaurant playing Vivaldi in the background while people talk.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Henk on August 27, 2014, 09:11:02 AM
Background music, I take that as a negative qualification.
Meh, I guess it's not the loftiest aspiration for a composer, but he sure does make the some of the best background music out there.  :P At any rate, I find his music highly beautiful.

Heck, even music that sounds like Feldman can be awesome background music. I just saw this- first two minutes of this background music sounds a lot like if Feldman shaped his music into something just slightly more melodic.

https://www.youtube.com/v/X8JgHikCKuU

ibanezmonster

Of course, his music could be enjoyed as some sort of meditation, as well. However one would like to enjoy it (I'm not really into meditation).

Karl Henning

But perhaps enjoying the music of Feldman is a type of meditation....
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

milk

There are a lot of ways to enjoy Feldman. A meditation? An hallucination? Ambience? It has its own reality as well. I'm surprised it never pops up in films. I think I'll put on an old Star Trek, turn off the sound, and put on Crippled Symmetry and see how that works.

not edward

And in some ways that's why I really prefer Feldman live, because you have to engage with the music directly, on its own merits, and--at least for me--it has not disappointed.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

ibanezmonster

Quote from: milk on August 27, 2014, 04:54:06 PM
I think I'll put on an old Star Trek, turn off the sound, and put on Crippled Symmetry and see how that works.
Good idea, though putting on subtitles might help.

milk

Quote from: edward on August 27, 2014, 05:03:29 PM
And in some ways that's why I really prefer Feldman live, because you have to engage with the music directly, on its own merits, and--at least for me--it has not disappointed.
I wish I could get the opportunity. Here in Osaka, it just doesn't happen. I was checking out Aki Takahashi's website and noticed she's playing some shows in Japan. What's she playing? Schubert! Schubert?

Karl Henning

Quote from: milk on August 27, 2014, 08:31:22 PM
I wish I could get the opportunity. Here in Osaka, it just doesn't happen. I was checking out Aki Takahashi's website and noticed she's playing some shows in Japan. What's she playing? Schubert! Schubert?

Bums in seats . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: Greg on August 27, 2014, 05:39:23 PM
Good idea, though putting on subtitles might help.

No, I even think that Star Trek might be enhanced by no subtitles  8)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

milk


milk

Quote from: karlhenning on August 28, 2014, 04:02:54 AM
No, I even think that Star Trek might be enhanced by no subtitles  8)
They have Dark Side of the Rainbow. This could be Crippled Trek.

Karl Henning

Quote from: milk on August 28, 2014, 04:05:13 AM
I guess everyone's entitled to pay the bills.

Everyone hopes to, indeed;  I am shy of using the word entitled  ;)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: milk on August 28, 2014, 04:07:54 AM
They have Dark Side of the Rainbow. This could be Crippled Trek.

Well played!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot