Morton Feldman - For John Cage (1997)

Morton Feldman - For John Cage (1997)

avantgarde, contemporary | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 275MB

hat[now]ART 124

Allmusic:
Morton Feldman's For John Cage, written in the final phase of his career, is, typically for this period, a long work, almost 70 minutes. It is atypical, however, when one considers on how few occasions he actually wrote for this particular pairing of instruments: In 1951 there were "Extensions 1" and "Projections IV"; in 1963, he produced "Vertical Thoughts"; and again in 1978 he composed "Spring of Chosroes." The reasons are varied, but the one constant that runs through these works is how Feldman's palette of sonances, timbres, and textures could be achieved more forcefully by using these two instruments in his quest for "stasis." This term refers in Feldman's vocabulary to the effect achieved by the visual art of Mark Rothko and Philip Guston. In For John Cage, Feldman sets the piece in three movements where a minimum of notes are written in patters, played in varying time signatures, over and again, in slightly altered combinations of chords and tones. They are consistently modified to vary textural, polytonal, and even perceptual degrees, but never to the point of any linear modulation or scheme. For John Cage may repeat each sequence of notes -- in limited range -- and repeat them asymmetrically or symmetrically, this distinction doesn't matter to Feldman, who felt that if he could just achieve "stasis" within his music, the question would forever be in his words "held in abeyance." These patterned sections proceed from one another without reorganization or discernable system. But then, this work, as in all of Feldman's middle and late pieces, was about the relationships between note and silence and instruments and tones. For John Cage, meant to be played by both performers and listened to at barely audible volume, established enough displacement to achieve a kind of stasis in sound and in its relationship to the greater stasis: silence. Despite the seemingly endless academic theorizing he involved in his work, Feldman's music, and it's concern with gentleness, stillness, is music of great, if subtly expressed, emotion. Inspired by one of his longest personal and professional relationships, For John Cage is perhaps his most haunting and beautifully wrought for all of its alien construction and perceptual ambiguity. Indeed, it appears as if Feldman were, at the end of his life, attempting to free music from the only thing that weighted it to earth: itself.

Tracks
1. I. - 25:17
2. II. - 20:37
3. III. - 23:18

Personnel
* Josje Ter Haar - violin
* John Snijders - piano

 sample & buy: For John Cage 

 

Morton Feldman - The Viola In My Life (2008)

Morton Feldman - The Viola In My Life (2008)

contemorary | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 245MB

ECM

 Allaboutjazz:

Composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987) is most often remembered for his spare, often slow and lengthy compositions, where space is a key component. Kronos Quartet's version of Piano and String Quartet (Elektra/Nonesuch, 1991) is a prime example of the richness and depth Feldman achieved through use of space and gradual, almost imperceptible evolution. While scored, Feldman's Indeterministic or Aleatoric music—where one or more aspect of the composition is left for the artist to define (Terry Riley's "In C" is another fine example), creating an unpredictability that was an inherent component of the music—has driven the vast majority of his work, especially in his later years. It's no surprise then, that among his students have been improvising musicians including drummer Bobby Previte, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and bassist Joëlle Léandre.
The Viola in My Life is ECM's first disc devoted solely to Feldman, and it's a strong choice. The four-movement, 39-minute suite places Polish-born, Norwegian-resident violist Marek Konstantynowicz front and center throughout, but in differing contexts ranging from the piano duet of "The Viola in My Life III" to the full orchestral conclusion, "The Viola in My Life IV." Konstantynowicz, while a member of Oslo's Cikada Ensemble and no stranger to ECM fans familiar with albums including The Source's The Source and Different Cikadas (ECM, 2002) and Mats Edén's sadly underappreciated Milvus (ECM, 1999), was active on Warsaw's free jazz scene before relocating to Norway; capable, then, of meeting the challenges of Feldman's musical proclivities.
Even when there's a full orchestra at his disposal, Feldman rarely resorts to bold, dramatic statements, barring the occasional punctuation. Instead, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, conducted by Christian Eggen, creates textural and harmonic contexts for Konstantynowicz's reprisal of various themes introduced in earlier pieces, although sometimes considerably filtered Equally, Feldman's themes are often so oblique that completely recognizable definition can easily be missed.
The overall tone of these four movements is subdued, with little indication of time or harmonic movement (though there are passages with very dense, dissonant harmonies). Still, Feldman's genius has always been—to contrast one of the vocal lines to composer Steve Reich's You Are (Variations) (Nonesuch, 2005), "say little and do much,"—to "do little and say much." The first two parts of The Viola in My Life are for small, similar instrumental configurations. "The Viola in My Life I" features flute, violin, violoncello, piano and percussion, while "The Viola in My Life II" substitutes celesta for piano and adds clarinet, but these relatively slight changes create palpable transformations in texture.
The effect of Feldman's music, without proper attention paid can appear static and, at best, soothing on a subliminal level. But closer investigation into the starkly compelling The Viola in My Life reveals both an undeniable sense of purpose and an appreciation for the power inherent in the subtlest orchestration, the sparest melodic fragment and the true rewards of delayed gratification.

Tracks

-1 The Viola in My Life I (August 24, 1970: for viola (solo), flute, violin, violoncello, piano and percussion;
-2 The Viola in My Life II (October, 1970): for viola (solo), flute, clarinet, celesta, percussion, violin and violoncello;
-3 The Viola in My Life III (October 12, 1970): for viola and piano;
-4 The Viola in My Life IV (Mark 8, 1971): for viola and orchestra

Personnel

* Marek Konstantynowicz: viola;
* Cikada Ensemble; Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Christian Eggen, conductor.

 sample & buy: The Viola In My Life