Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

[Artem]

I received the latest CD (Two Pianos and Other Pieces, 1953-1969) of Feldman's music yesterday. Has anybody got it too?



I began exploring it today. Had some time to listen to the first CD and my initial impression is that it is a very well chosen program, but played a bit too slow, compared to the version of some of these pieces on other CDs. But that is just the first listen, which I usually don't trust.

[San Antone]

Been listening to this one ...

Coptic Light
Coptic Light
Piano and Orchestra
Cello and Orchestra
Alan Feinberg, piano
Robert Cohen, cello
New World Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas
Argo 448513-2 DDD 73:35



A good place to begin a Feldman collection.

[EigenUser]

Been listening to this one ...

Coptic Light
Coptic Light
Piano and Orchestra
Cello and Orchestra
Alan Feinberg, piano
Robert Cohen, cello
New World Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas
Argo 448513-2 DDD 73:35



A good place to begin a Feldman collection.

This is one of my favorite albums (ever).

[EigenUser]

The only video of Feldman I've seen:
https://www.youtube.com/v/0hEs4nelc_8

And here's a four hour long discussion with Cage (combined from several discussions). I like how you can hear a cigarette be lit every few minutes... Adds to the atmosphere (even though I'm allergic to smoke...)
https://www.youtube.com/v/5bW2Q1i5Yik

[EigenUser]

So I've exhausted the supply of Feldman talks/interviews. I wish there was more since he had so much to say about music and art in general, but it was nice to see/hear what exists. Probably more than many composers, but I feel that I only got to hear the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

This one, from 1986, was my favorite: https://archive.org/details/MFeldmanSOM

The highlight was when someone mentioned "consonance" in his music. His reply was something like "If I ever thought to use the term 'consonant' to describe any of my music -- I think I'd quietly go to the basement -- and hang myself."

[chadfeldheimer]

This is one of my favorite albums (ever).

Definitely a great piece. Somehow it always reminds me of the last movement of Ives' 4th symphony. Is it just me or does anybody have the same impression?

[EigenUser]

Definitely a great piece. Somehow it always reminds me of the last movement of Ives' 4th symphony. Is it just me or does anybody have the same impression?

I need to hear the Ives again, but I'll keep that in mind.

I heard Feldman's second SQ yesterday (for the first time). The six-hour one. I feel like I deserve a gold star or something.

A lot of it reminded me of Ligeti's Ramifications (a piece for 12 strings). It had a lot of similar "rocking-back-and-forth" figures. The weird part was when it ended, though. The silence for a few minutes after was eerie and uncomfortable.

[Karl Henning]

I need to hear the Ives again, but I'll keep that in mind.

I heard Feldman's second SQ yesterday (for the first time). The six-hour one. I feel like I deserve a gold star or something.

A lot of it reminded me of Ligeti's Ramifications (a piece for 12 strings). It had a lot of similar "rocking-back-and-forth" figures. The weird part was when it ended, though. The silence for a few minutes after was eerie and uncomfortable.

Wonderful!

[milk]

I just got this but haven't listened to it yet:


I also got this and started listening to it and I must say that this is the most bizarre Feldman I've ever heard. This is Feldman on an electric guitar that's been manipulated in some way. I'm enjoying this.



I saw this review of Melnikov's live Feldman. I'm intrigued:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/15/triadic-memories-alexander-melnikov-wigmore-hall-review

[milk]

I just got this but haven't listened to it yet:


I also got this and started listening to it and I must say that this is the most bizarre Feldman I've ever heard. This is Feldman on an electric guitar that's been manipulated in some way. I'm enjoying this.



I saw this review of Melnikov's live Feldman. I'm intrigued:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/15/triadic-memories-alexander-melnikov-wigmore-hall-review

Follow-up: I found the Something Wild album pretty boring. As for the Akchote, it's pretty interesting. I like the sound he's produced. However, the pieces don't build to anything as they are broken up so discretely. I admire what he's done and I may return to it again. It's unique. Yet, I wonder why it has to be so disjointed.

[7/4]

Follow-up: I found the Something Wild album pretty boring. As for the Akchote, it's pretty interesting. I like the sound he's produced. However, the pieces don't build to anything as they are broken up so discretely. I admire what he's done and I may return to it again. It's unique. Yet, I wonder why it has to be so disjointed.

I don't remember liking that CD much, maybe it's time to revisit...see if I connect this time.

[torut]

Melnikov's Feldman sounds interesting. It's a bit surprising.

I only heard few Akchoté, which are arrangements of Cage's works for guitar (Harmonies, String Quartet), and I liked them a lot. Samples of Triadic Memories sounded quite strange, very different from the piano version.

[Scion7]

Whoa!  I'd never seen this guy's face before today. 
I can see where he had lots of time for composing with a pus like that!!!   

What do you think of this performace?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHuh1yR0z8
Too bad you can't really take something like this on the road,
not unless you pair it up with Mahler or something that will draw the crowds.

[milk]

Whoa!  I'd never seen this guy's face before today. 
I can see where he had lots of time for composing with a pus like that!!!   

What do you think of this performace?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHuh1yR0z8
Too bad you can't really take something like this on the road,
not unless you pair it up with Mahler or something that will draw the crowds.

Ugh. Mahler. Sounds like a terrible pair. Better something like Reich. Doesn't Reich draw? Different as they are it's in the ballpark. Mahler is such a bummer to pair with Feldman. But yeah, not a big draw I guess.

[San Antone]

Morton Feldman : died 9/3/1987

Morton Feldman was a big, brusque Jewish guy from Woodside, Queens—the son of a manufacturer of children's coats. He worked in the family business until he was forty-four years old, and he later became a professor of music at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He died in 1987, at the age of sixty-one. To almost everyone's surprise but his own, he turned out to be one of the major composers of the twentieth century, a sovereign artist who opened up vast, quiet, agonizingly beautiful worlds of sound.

[milk]

I picked up this recently. The style is too romantic-sounding for me.

[Mirror Image]

I picked up this recently. The style is too romantic-sounding for me.

Thanks for taking one for the team. I'll continue to cherish my California EAR Unit performance.

[Scion7]

To almost everyone's surprise but his own, he turned out to be one of the major composers of the twentieth century, ....

Yeah, I think that WOULD be a surprise, because he isn't.  He's a rather minor 20th century composer.  And to the general public almost completely unknown.

[springrite]

Yeah, I think that WOULD be a surprise, because he isn't.  He's a rather minor 20th century composer.  And to the general public almost completely unknown.

Well, our standard here in 20 pages on the composer discussion board. SO he just made it. 

[springrite]

Thanks for taking one for the team. I'll continue to cherish my California EAR Unit performance.

Well, that is the one to get. Dorothy Stone is second to none.