Writings about the music of American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
In a recent lecture on Feldman’s music, Bunita Marcus said that Feldman was ”playing with memory and the evolution of memory.” The next part of For Bunita Marcus (pages 16-19) is devoted to this “playing with memory”.
For Bunita Marcus 5: The evolution of memory Read More »
In my last post, I noted the way that these first pages of For Bunita Marcus contain such a diversity of music. With page 14, Feldman begins recycling patterns and music from earlier in the piece.
For Bunita Marcus 4: Pages 14-15 Read More »
The next several pages of Feldman’s “For Bunita Marcus” is more unsettled, moving forward and backward in time and changing imagery and focus more frequently. I’ll start with a description of the next three pages, which feel like a unit to me.
For Bunita Marcus 3: Pages 11-13 Read More »
After I learned the first seven pages of For Bunita Marcus, I allowed myself to continue to the next chunk of music, where Feldman plays with a single pattern for four minutes.
For Bunita Marcus 2: Pages 8-10 Read More »
I’ve started learning another late Feldman solo piano work: For Bunita Marcus. This is the first of a many-part account of my progress.
For Bunita Marcus 1 Read More »
In this post, I explore further what I mean when I say that Feldman’s music has the character of thought by paying attention to a particular example of this in Palais de mari.
Palais de mari: continuity & reflection Read More »
I’ve taken a break from Feldman’s “Palais de mari” for awhile, but am playing it again more and starting to think about how this piece works: how does Feldman make the continuity? Let me begin with something very basic: the articulation of events within the piece.
Palais de mari: continuity and articulation Read More »
There is a particular two-chord pattern that develops towards the end of Palais de mari that caught my attention early on. It reminded me of conscious breathing.
Palais de mari: Breathing Read More »
One of the first things I noticed in learning Palais de mari is that I had to count constantly. The fact is that rhythm is deceptively hard in Feldman.
Counting in Palais de mari Read More »
I’ve started working on Morton Feldman’s Palais de mari, and I plan to do a number of posts on this piece as it sinks in. And I’ll start at the beginning, writing about the nature of opening ideas in late Feldman.
Beginning Palais de mari Read More »
