Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

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

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snyprrr

Quote from: Mandryka on December 30, 2015, 01:05:40 PM


I've been listening to Anton Batagov play Triadic Memories.


About 40 minutes in, the emotional tone of the music changes radically. It ceases to be uplifting sunlight reflected on a calm sea and becomes threatening and dark for about 7 minutes. Then the dark timbres clear but the general feel of the music is not the same: the world has, as it were, become less comfortable and more disturbing. The cthonic timbres, clouds, recur close  the very end.

It is not music with no structure, on the contrary. This music has a beginning and a middle and an end. Neither is it true that the music is undramatic or uneventful. The last ten minutes are especially interesting, because they do resemble the first 50 minutes and yet . . .  not. And my experience listening to the end definitely involved my memory, failing memory, of what had gone before.

Listening to Feldman made me think of Schubert, which is something I've noticed before. In particular the way emotions work in the music, the way clouds are blown away to reveal sunlight, made me think of the first movement of the Schubert's 9th symphony.

I found the music disturbing, negative, unhappy.

Quote from: milk on July 12, 2016, 06:46:23 AM
I'm glad to see Feldman activity here and that snyprrr is on it. I've nothing to add to the discussion...except that Crippled and For Philip are among my favorites. Why Patterns too (give me a piano, flute and percussion every day!). Noël Akchoté has a bunch of weird electric guitar arrangements of Feldman, in case anyone is looking for that sort of thing. Hmm...definitely a Xenakis/Feldman program would be my most desirable concert to see. Wake up! Go to sleep! Wake up! Go to sleep! Wake up!

Triadic Memories (Fafchamps- 1990)

Well, huh, found a copy of Fafchamps's 1990 SubRosa recital.  He runs 74:23, whereas Takahashi runs @60mins., and Batagov @67. I'm about the fourth time through here this afternoon, having put it on at random throughout the last days and nights.

Fafchamps's piano image is pretty big- ALMOST warbling, but tantalizingly not- yet, there is a sweet acoustic "plonk" in the high register- there IS some nice acoustical space here, but, just behind the image. It's right there on the edge- it could've been bad, but sits just under that loud/dry threshold, and sounds just nicely rounded to me... just so.

Maybe it could be better, but, we certainly don't want the image too far away and lose detail. How does Schleiermacher sound?


So, this whole high minded thing about memory that Feldman is trying to put forth- I don't buy it. I feel I'm "remembering" just fine when I'm hearing- and it goes on very nicely and thoughtfully... I don't know what the big fuss is about, even though I get the whole "big canvas" thing... the whole "deep hues of blue and grey" with splotches of colour here and there.

So, that middle sections, is that supposed to be "memories" of Schubert or something? It's by no means an explicit quote of any kind, it just seems that in his own way, feldman is playing the "remember?" game.


Anyhow, the Fafchamps 1990 recording, FINALLY!!- decades later!!- and yes, I'd probably have swerved a little had I actually picked it up when i saw it back in the day. I certainly see this as "fast" music, and Ichafe at hearing some of these 2 hour ordeals. I used to have Woodward, but could never get over the horrible Etcetera sound... blech!! Fafchamps kicks off Feldman month here. En route are:


CLARINET AND STRING QUARTET- Roger Heaton (Metier): I never did like this piece (used to have HatHut), and Heaton showed me why. All the other recordings (HatHut, Mode, Feldman/Babbitt) place all protagonists equally- Heaton pl,aces the first violin alongside the clarinet, making for much more duo-like interest- and the band plays with Xenakis-like "no vibrato". For those who like this piece, please try this Heaton.

FOR BUNITA MARCUS- Steffen Schleiermacher (MDG): it was between him and Hinterhauser. I used to have Kleeb- yes, I should have kept it, but, "they" say that the only thing she could have used was a little ambience in the studio. I believe either of the two gentlemen provide something more modern. I hear that the MDG recording is a good mariage between piano image and background; let's hope so.

FOR JOHN CAGE- (HatHut): it was between this and the Zukofsky, which, though pretty well as authentic as one could get, has a somewhat "hard" piano image. The HatHut has a nice, sweet "plonk" in the upper register, belying the more open acoustic. As far as playing, Zukovsky does get "that" tone, but the Ives's player seems to keep up just fine, and has a little more modern tone and plasticity.

UNTITLED COMPOSITION FOR CELLO AND PIANO- (Attaca): the Attaca is a 1CD affair that has a more pleasant sound environment than the Tzadik, imo. Well,  not really my opinion, it's pretty clear the Tzadik recording is dry and in your face, perhaps highlighting the sound of a NYC car horn extravaganza. I prefer a more normal perspective, which the Attaca seems to deliver.

TRIO (HatHut): haven't pulled the plug yet on this one, Feldman's most curiously boisterous, hiccuping and spurting piece next to the above cello work. Trio will probably later...



Hopefully these should all arrive shortly...



All that remained was which of the 'Violin and Orchestra' recordings, and 'The Viola in My Life', to check out. Have you heard the Bridge disc with 'Viola IV' and 'Instruments 2'?

snyprrr

Patterns in A Chromatic Field/ Untitled Composition for Cello and Piano (1981)

Here's another piece I needed a single CD for, of which there are two, the old Attaca (1990) and the much newer Tzadik. Many have commented on the dry acoustic of the Tzadik; the Attaca has a very nice ambience- it's just a shade farther away, but everything plops right out of the speaker with no problem (it seems to want to be a fixed position just under the threshold). At least the Attaca is Tracked Randomly, 1-9).

This is definitely one odd little piece here. Kooky almost. It's like 'Exercises' just keep popping up and staying their turn, only to be replaced by either something similar, or something totally different. There are a lot of fun little sections with lots of notes, then followed by a more typical Feldmanesque slow section (though, all is in one, plodding, tempo).

This piece also sounds like his "dirtiest" piece, even though everything is noted in great detail. One gets to hear a little "fuzz" when the cellist has to play something obviously very difficult. This work really sounds like a recorded improvisation or controlled material,... uh, whatever that means...

This is certainly fun to listen to, and is, along with 'Trio', and maybe 'Violin and Orchestra', the height of his more "mixed-it-up" period right before 'Triadic memories' and 'For John Cage' took things in the other direction.

Someone here didn't like the Tzadik (probably due to the close micing): the Attaca certainly has a charm to it.  I'd also like to hear Rohan de Saram on HatHut, though it's 2CDs.


1) Berman/Wierenga (Attaca) "Untitled Composition" (1CD)
2) Tzadik (1CD)
3) MDG  (1CD) I think
4) HatHut (de Saram) (2CDs)
5) Aeon (Descharmes?) 2CDs)

snyprrr

OK< I just spent way too much money on a Used copy of the ColLegno disc of Violin and Orchestra/Coptic Light. Apparently it was what was needed in order to break this Feldman "thing" I've been into here lately. I mean, it was getting ridiculous- when I find myself having to come up with excuses for liking something, I know there's a problem. Objectivity concerning Feldman was waning... I might have just started buyBuyBUYing moreMoreMORE Feldman... for no other reason than for Materialism's sake. This was actually the most desirable issue, and I just bit the bullet.

There is nothing left but the multi-disc issues, of which only SQ2 is on the radar. I could rather hear 'Why Patterns?' than the three longer works of the same basic grouping (CrippSym, ForPhG, ForChW). I'm just about done with Morty here...




Piano 1977

Tilbury seems to be the only one who treats this piece with a little more "balls" than anyone else. His recording is also up-close... usually I don't like that, but here it seems to highlight the piece's rougher quality. Does anyone else punch this piece up a little, or not? All the other samples I've heard start the piece of much less aggressively. But, this IS in Feldman's "aggressive" period ('Patterns/Chromatic Field'), so, I'd be assuming you could play this one a little more "funky"???...???...???

North Star

Quote from: snyprrr on July 18, 2016, 09:03:45 AM
OK< I just spent way too much money on a Used copy of the ColLegno disc of Violin and Orchestra/Coptic Light.
I hope you didn't pay more than the Carolin Widmann V&O and the CPO Durations I-V & Coptic Light cost together. . .
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

EigenUser

Quote from: snyprrr on July 12, 2016, 02:58:06 PM
So, that middle sections, is that supposed to be "memories" of Schubert or something? It's by no means an explicit quote of any kind, it just seems that in his own way, feldman is playing the "remember?" game.

I read something where Feldman said that the title has a double meaning -- triadic as in triads in music, but also there were three performers who he often wrote for (Feldman usually wrote pieces with performers in mind while composing). Aki Takahashi, Roger Woodward, and another person I forget the name of.

Snyprrr, what do you think of Coptic Light?
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

snyprrr

Quote from: North Star on July 18, 2016, 09:20:12 AM
I hope you didn't pay more than the Carolin Widmann V&O and the CPO Durations I-V & Coptic Light cost together. . .

Ahhhhh- well, I DID do all the various permutation exercises. I already have the 'Durations' on the Barton Workshop set, and ... well, here's the breakdown:

EITHER GET:

A) Widmann and the 'Viola/Life' ECM + some random 'Coptic'...

B) get the CRI 'Viola/Life' + the Bridge disc with 'Viola IV' + Widmann + random 'Coptic'...

C) get the ColLegno and f*** the 'Viola' s*** for the time being ...

D) get everything

E) get nothing

F) ?????



Well, actually, doing the math, I spent abou $10 more than your suggestion, which isn't so bad. The CPO disc is pretty cheap r I was wrong... I spent about twice :o...


Both of those ECM discs are HIGHLY SHORT on time, though... under 40mins. for the 'Viola/Life'...


LOL, I actually do believe I made the right decision... had I got your suggestion it might have sent me on another CDCDCD episode...



To be fair, the ColLegno disc was at about $50, and then just yesterday I saw it for $32,... and... it SEEMED like a no-brainer (hence...)...




(veiled cry for help)




PLEASE- JUSTIFY ME!!!!!!


Quote from: EigenUser on July 18, 2016, 10:49:25 AM

Snyprrr, what do you think of Coptic Light?

lISTENED TO eOTVOS LAST NIGHT, @21MINS. (AS OPPOSED TO mtt'S 29MINS.)     (whoops)      Was reading how the NYPhil. was "barking like dogs" at Feldman during rehearsals... oh, the horror!!....

I find Feldman's mushy, "Persian rug" phase so much less melodically pleasing (as opposed to the "still life" period)... Bunita-PVVC-For Beckett-Coptic... but, as "mushy" goes... I liked 'Coptic' from Eotvos... I like the rolling/tumbling piano figure, the "palimpsest" style "unfolding"... with Feldman, the more instruments the better for me sometimes, and this being one of the last... I've had 'For Samual Beckett' since forever, but I always found it "mushy" and only something I'd have on in the background,... but I just never liked the non-melodiousness... why couldn't he have just had a Big melody like 'For PhG' or 'TriMem'? Why did it have to be "waves crashing on the shore" monotony?

Oh, and the whole "to show the monotonousness of life during the holocaust" thing.........no.



But, if 'Coptic' also comes withy 'Viollin and orchestra', how can I complain? :-\

EigenUser

Quote from: snyprrr on July 18, 2016, 11:07:17 AM
lISTENED TO eOTVOS LAST NIGHT, @21MINS. (AS OPPOSED TO mtt'S 29MINS.)     (whoops)      Was reading how the NYPhil. was "barking like dogs" at Feldman during rehearsals... oh, the horror!!....

I find Feldman's mushy, "Persian rug" phase so much less melodically pleasing (as opposed to the "still life" period)... Bunita-PVVC-For Beckett-Coptic... but, as "mushy" goes... I liked 'Coptic' from Eotvos... I like the rolling/tumbling piano figure, the "palimpsest" style "unfolding"... with Feldman, the more instruments the better for me sometimes, and this being one of the last... I've had 'For Samual Beckett' since forever, but I always found it "mushy" and only something I'd have on in the background,... but I just never liked the non-melodiousness... why couldn't he have just had a Big melody like 'For PhG' or 'TriMem'? Why did it have to be "waves crashing on the shore" monotony?

Oh, and the whole "to show the monotonousness of life during the holocaust" thing.........no.



But, if 'Coptic' also comes withy 'Viollin and orchestra', how can I complain? :-\
yessssssss! I love the "rolling piano figures" in Coptic Light! And the timpani mixed with cello pizzicato! I get irrationally excited about this piece of music. Tilson Thomas is my favorite recording, but I also like the one with SWR (curiously paired with Bruckner 8 -- a great idea, if for no other reason than to give the piece more exposure).

Here is page 3 of the score:

:o

I mean, how could Feldman possibly know what it would sound like while he was writing it?! Look at those last two lines with the divisi harmonics in treble clef -- those are the basses! How do you even come up with something like that?
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

snyprrr

Quote from: EigenUser on July 18, 2016, 12:41:45 PM
yessssssss! I love the "rolling piano figures" in Coptic Light! And the timpani mixed with cello pizzicato! I get irrationally excited about this piece of music. Tilson Thomas is my favorite recording, but I also like the one with SWR (curiously paired with Bruckner 8 -- a great idea, if for no other reason than to give the piece more exposure).

Here is page 3 of the score:

:o

I mean, how could Feldman possibly know what it would sound like while he was writing it?! Look at those last two lines with the divisi harmonics in treble clef -- those are the basses! How do you even come up with something like that?

I've had a slight revelation. Listen to some choice Late Xenakis, you know, his, uh, "boring" phase, so to speak. I almost think IX could've come around to a 'Coptic Light' kind of feel. The secret between them is in the way they blur the bar line by all those finely graded starting points around the bar line... so, here's how you can Compose like this:

Get that "Sibelius" software or something... get a comparable orchestra setting, - then start with the double basses (say four), and then just, one at a time, improvise the whole piece before you. Then, you can either beef up the bottom end, or start adding flutes or piano. By the time you've improvised out all (say 88 instruments), then you should have quite a rolling, tumbling ball of kinetic electrical fuzz that can either be pruned, or what not.

Also, 'Coptic' has that "palimpsest" quality about it, like layers constantly being peeled back,- like that piano figure is like pebbles in a drum going around, tumbling again, being peeled away, onion layers.




For Samuel Beckett (Mosko)

Just listened through... mm... I still find it awesomely boring... and I don't like the rainy-day/gray-day imagery... it just sounds like mush to me... BUT,... lol, I still kinda like it! if just that it's good wall paper music. But,this was my really first exposure to Feldman, out-of-the-blue at a UsedRecordStore in the early '90s,... I think the impetus had been Nyman's book, was it 'New Sounds'? Well, I was looking more for NewAge at the time, something consistently fuzzy, and this piece sure had potential, but I always wished it sounded more like 'Piano & SQ', or 'TriMem', MORE MELODY.

And please don't tell me I have to listen for the melodies, lol.- I did

ANYHOW, who do you like in FSB?

Mosko (Newport)
CPO
HatHut (Tamayo)
Kairos

Mosko has always gotten the better review. It sounds great to me... that's why I always wondered why this MUSIC does nothing for me...


it's just too nice outside to put it on!!!!!!!!!!

snyprrr

Quote from: EigenUser on July 18, 2016, 12:41:45 PM
yessssssss! I love the "rolling piano figures" in Coptic Light! And the timpani mixed with cello pizzicato! I get irrationally excited about this piece of music. Tilson Thomas is my favorite recording, but I also like the one with SWR (curiously paired with Bruckner 8 -- a great idea, if for no other reason than to give the piece more exposure).

Here is page 3 of the score:

:o

I mean, how could Feldman possibly know what it would sound like while he was writing it?! Look at those last two lines with the divisi harmonics in treble clef -- those are the basses! How do you even come up with something like that?

:'( :'( :'(
:'( :'( :'(
:'( :'( :'( :'(

sO, i got the ColLegno Violin/Coptic,... and, for everyone's sanities's sake, I went straight to the 'Coptic' to see how this stood up.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???


The piano figure is nowhere to be heard,... oh, no,... there it is, buried, buried, buried in the mix,... it's all french horns in this recording... head spinning,... nausea,...$$$$$.... overpaid.... oh, feel a nosebleed coming on....


I'm now almost all the way through, and I'm just in shock. Sure, it's a 'live' recording, but that shouldn't matter. It sounds so much like that mushy 'For samuel Beckett' I was ranting about yesterday. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(


Yea, so, all that great percussion and piano are just lost lost lost,... I hear the harp... it's all strings and soft brassy, french horns or something,...


OK, it's over.....





UGH- wow, had I note heard the others I might have thought it was a middlin' Feldman piece, not very impressive at all. WOW, I'm in shock,... NO PIANO,... the only thing I really liked,... and it held the piece together too, and here, nada, zip, blatt, dzzzz....


I also heard the first minute of the VC... the orchestra sounded good, but I wondered if Faust needed to be just a hair closer to the mic? I'll get to that later,... now I just need to recuperate from that almost $40 enema,... oh yeeeeessss, I AM feelin it THERE, LOL!!!      f***ed myself on that one......



And here I thought I had mad the "right choice" lol, oh, - this is like an overacted death scene.... ahhh.....ahhhh......ahhhh (library books crashing).....

snyprrr

Violin and Orchestra (1979)

Well, if 50mins. doesn't seem like a long time with Feldman, why does it with Pettersson?

hmmm... or maybe not?

Enjoyed my third time through, second with Faust. I just like recollecting the colors and shapes- it becomes kind of its own painting in your mind. I can see some of the cartoony surrealism, just for the feel of it.


sorry, more tired than thought...zzZzzZzzzzzzz...

snyprrr

Projection 2 (1951)

Projection 5 (1951)
Durations 1 (1960)
Durations 5 (1961)

Vertical Thoughts 3 (1963)
Vertical thoughts 5 (1963)


To me, 'Projection 1' seems like Feldman's "Symphony a la Webern". It's the most pointallistic(?) piece of his I've come across. As dry as it is, there is a certain mood set, and the bleeps and plonks work for me. The Barton/Etcetera recording is also quite dry, highlighting the silences. I think the trumpet did it for me.

'Projection 5' seems very different to me. Here, the note values begin to lengthen to more Feldmanesque "durations". At the end, all comes together to form one of those Feldman melodies that we all like,- wasn't expecting that this early on.

With the 'Duratios', the note values continue to lengthen, and these two are much mellower. The 'Vertical Thoughts' add a soprano to the ensemble; here we seem to have a mixture of long and short values- one hears very clearly the Feldman language...

sorry, again don't feel like writing... :(

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Feldman, more than any other composer, has mastered the art of sustaining my attention with barely any material or development over extended periods of time. I haven't heard much Pettersson but 50 minutes of Feldman always feels remarkably short....maybe because I am a fan of much of his late compositions especially from the 80s.

snyprrr, please recommend me a good place to start with his earlier works! I find your comments very very very very very very very interesting

EigenUser

Quote from: snyprrr on July 20, 2016, 02:51:02 PM
:'( :'( :'(
:'( :'( :'(
:'( :'( :'( :'(

sO, i got the ColLegno Violin/Coptic,... and, for everyone's sanities's sake, I went straight to the 'Coptic' to see how this stood up.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???


The piano figure is nowhere to be heard,... oh, no,... there it is, buried, buried, buried in the mix,... it's all french horns in this recording... head spinning,... nausea,...$$$$$.... overpaid.... oh, feel a nosebleed coming on....


I'm now almost all the way through, and I'm just in shock. Sure, it's a 'live' recording, but that shouldn't matter. It sounds so much like that mushy 'For samuel Beckett' I was ranting about yesterday. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(


Yea, so, all that great percussion and piano are just lost lost lost,... I hear the harp... it's all strings and soft brassy, french horns or something,...


OK, it's over.....
I don't think I've heard this recording, but now I'm curious to hear it even though you don't seem to care much for it.

Quote from: snyprrr on July 29, 2016, 11:19:54 AM
Projection 2 (1951)

Projection 5 (1951)
Durations 1 (1960)
Durations 5 (1961)

Vertical Thoughts 3 (1963)
Vertical thoughts 5 (1963)


To me, 'Projection 1' seems like Feldman's "Symphony a la Webern". It's the most pointallistic(?) piece of his I've come across. As dry as it is, there is a certain mood set, and the bleeps and plonks work for me. The Barton/Etcetera recording is also quite dry, highlighting the silences. I think the trumpet did it for me.
I think that Webern and Feldman have a lot in common, even though their methods of composing music were vastly different.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

snyprrr

Quote from: jessop on July 29, 2016, 04:29:57 PM
Feldman, more than any other composer, has mastered the art of sustaining my attention with barely any material or development over extended periods of time. I haven't heard much Pettersson but 50 minutes of Feldman always feels remarkably short....maybe because I am a fan of much of his late compositions especially from the 80s.

snyprrr, please recommend me a good place to start with his earlier works! I find your comments very very very very very very very interesting

I have the Barton Workshop set, so it's quite conveniently an almost "all-in-one" overview up until 1979. I'm not sure how to approach the earlier works in another way... I know this set is probably bery expensive, most of it can be had by the Mode Cycle...

The most interesting (to me) piece that I heard recently was the 'Projection 2' for ensemble, the one that sounded the most like Webern. BUT, you know, these pieces are all kind of short...... yea, really, the only way to explore Early Feldman might be Mode. There are about four in that series that concentrate on the early. I think they are:

1) "Composing By Numbers"
2) "First Recordings"
3) "Indeterminate Works"
4) "Voices and Instruments"

He has:

Projections
Intermissions
Intersections
Extensions
Durations
Vertical Thoughts


Yes, it's confusing...


Quote from: EigenUser on July 29, 2016, 04:45:43 PM
I don't think I've heard this recording, but now I'm curious to hear it even though you don't seem to care much for it.
I think that Webern and Feldman have a lot in common, even though their methods of composing music were vastly different.

That Rundel still only made me want to hear the Zender CL. I'll try it again... I'm still even more shocked that the piece actually has TWO pianos that cannot really be heard...??





I've been enjoying the Stradivarius 'Piano,Violin,Viola,Cello', not as "dead and white marble" sounding as the HatHut, a little more "liveliness" in the acoustic... huh, yea,... it's still the same music. I'd still go with the HH if I could, but this one is really very good, and the piano isn't as loud as in the Bridge version (Karis always getting clunky piano sound from Bridge?????).

Then I did the unheard of, and actually plunked in the Kronos/Takahashi disc, ... and actually listened closely!! Wow, this is still THE piece, imo. I had forgotten how... palpable the sensuouslyness(what's the rule on those words again???) was... also, the main theme is in PVVC also, at the very end, and, it is also in 'Piano and Orchestra'.

P+SQ and PVVC are in my "sleep" rotation now... along with 'For Bunita Marcus' (Schleiermacher for the win here!!!)........

snyprrr

I'm almost ready for SQ2... not quite just yet... will have to be the last purchase of the year, after car maintain...


So, the eternal question: HatHut or Mode?

Yea, I know, I'll probably haaave to get both eventually...

EigenUser

Quote from: snyprrr on July 31, 2016, 07:18:25 AM
I'm almost ready for SQ2... not quite just yet... will have to be the last purchase of the year, after car maintain...
I've listened to Feldman's entire 2nd SQ. Last year I was a teaching assistant for a fairly big class (~100 students) and I had put off grading the last two homeworks of the semester (well, not so much "put off", but I was busy with research stuff). That meant I had 200 homework assignments to grade. I spent the day listening to the string quartet while grading.

The weirdest part for me was the end. It just stopped. And there was this incredibly tense, nearly-unbearably eerie silence. It bothered me for 10-15 minutes after the piece ended. I felt like I was still listening to the quartet, but it was just a "blank" section of the piece. No piece has ever done that to me before.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

ComposerOfAvantGarde

@snyprrr thanks snyprrr for the recommendation

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Quote from: EigenUser on July 31, 2016, 11:32:54 AM
I've listened to Feldman's entire 2nd SQ. Last year I was a teaching assistant for a fairly big class (~100 students) and I had put off grading the last two homeworks of the semester (well, not so much "put off", but I was busy with research stuff). That meant I had 200 homework assignments to grade. I spent the day listening to the string quartet while grading.

The weirdest part for me was the end. It just stopped. And there was this incredibly tense, nearly-unbearably eerie silence. It bothered me for 10-15 minutes after the piece ended. I felt like I was still listening to the quartet, but it was just a "blank" section of the piece. No piece has ever done that to me before.
I haven't listened to this piece yet; the longest work I've heard of his is For Philip Guston because I only had about 4 and a half hours spare once rather than 6. With a busy schedule it seems hard to find 6 hours in one go that I can spend with this piece......

But wow that it an interesting story of your experience with the ending. Never heard of anything like that before. :o

Mandryka

Quote from: snyprrr on June 23, 2016, 07:06:39 AM
I'm still laughing at this one! :laugh:


I'm at a Feldman impasse. Here's what I got:


1) 'The Ecstasy of the Moment' 3CDs (Etcetera)

2) Zender 4 Concertos (CPO)

3) 'Orchestra' (Mode)

4) Piano and String Quartet (Nonesuch)

5) the early pieces for SQ (Vanguard)

6) 'Palais de Mari' (random various CD)

7) String Quartet (No.1) (Koch)

8)


I USED TO HAVE:

1) For Bunita marcus (HatHut)

2) For Christian Wolff (HathUT)

3) For Philip Guston (HatHut)

4) Clarinet and String Quartet (HatHut)

5) Triadic Memories (Aki Takahashi)

6) Why Patterns?/Crippled Symmetry (NewAlbion)



So,... I had gotten rid of all those HatHuts a looong time ago, for whatever dumb reason. But, I just can't stand music broken up over technological limitations- I'm still in my Feldman-single-disc mode due to lack of media funds.


Here is what I'm obviously considering:

1) Violin and Orchestra (which one? ECM or ColLegno?)

2) 'Only' (NewAlbion) seems like the perfect companion to the 'Ecstasy' set.....

3) '...Chromatic Field...'  WHICH ONE?

4) sTRING qUARTET nO.2

5) 'Viola in My Life I-IV' (ECM)

6) 'Triadic Memories'- I DO LIKE A SINGLE DISC FOR THIS. HOW IS THE MDG?????




I dunno-  what do you think?


and what of:


FOR FRANZ KLINE

FOR FRANK O'HARA

FOR DE KOONING

FALSE RELATIONSHIPS...
ROUTINE INVESTIGATIONS...

I didn't see this post till today. My Feldman life has been fallow apart from really getting into Triadic Memories. Fafchamps and Batagov.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

snyprrr

Quote from: Mandryka on August 01, 2016, 01:25:59 AM
I didn't see this post till today. My Feldman life has been fallow apart from really getting into Triadic Memories. Fafchamps and Batagov.

I would love to hear analysis between Fafchamps'90 and Batagov.... :)...
chleiermacher's 'For Bunita marcus
I might suggest S                                     

  .... can someone tell me how this texting bs happens to me ALL THE TIME???? You see here what happened? What flippin key did I accidentally hit? This technology bs is beyond me.... my fingers HAAAAATE computers..... f u  tech bs.......


AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


OK, back to feldman.... try Schleiermacher's 'For Bunita Marcus', if you want to stick with piano,... otherwise, I'd suggest the Kronos/Takahashi disc...