Feldman: String Quartet (1979)
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Composer: Morton FeldmanPerformer: Group for Contemporary Music
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-01-17
Music Label: Naxos American
Soundtracks:
- String Quartet - The Group For Contemporary Music
Music reviews of Feldman: String Quartet (1979)
Music Review: Feldman on the cusp of his late period
Rating: 5 Stars
Feldman felt he had created a masterpiece with his first string quartet, which gained the nickname "100 minutes" based on its first performance in NYC, May 4th, 1980, because it lasted well over 90 minutes. This recording from 1993 by the Group for Contemporary Music (originally released on Koch in 1994), isn't quite that long -- it's only 78'35 long! In February, 1981 the String Quartet was performed at the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival, and Feldman later said that the audience was so full of tension that it was "like a lynch mob." Throughout the 1970s Feldman had written many works for orchestra, including his outstanding "still life" concerto works (ie, "Cello and Orchestra," "Piano and Orchestra," "Violin and Orchestra, etc). These works grew longer toward the end, but it was the String Quartet that launched Feldman into his late period preoccupation with very long chamber works. (Thanks to Douglas Cohen for the very informative liner notes!)
The String Quartet of 1979 is full of variation, small to be sure, but in this sense transitional. The (in)famous second string quartet of 1983 represents the consolidation of Feldman's late "Turkish rug" period, marked by a reduction in variation to tiny changes on repeating patterns. This 1979 work has more in common with PATTERNS IN A CHROMATIC FIELD for cello and piano of 1981 (see my review) in its exploration of a wider range of possibilities, and more abrupt transitions, within the limited sonic terrain it occupies.
A second recording of the work was made by the Ives Ensemble in 2005, and released in 2007 by Hat Hut. It is just ever-so-slightly shorter than this original GCM recording, clocking in at 76'57. There is a big difference in sound, though -- the Ives Ensemble is much sharper, indicating close miking of each instrument. The GCM by contrast sounds softer, air-brushed, perhaps recorded with one overhead microphone. At this point I would say the Ives Ensemble recording is definitive.
It took me some time to warm up to the late Feldman, but I came around. I love the 1970s still life works (see my review of the CPO set with Zender conducting), but I have embraced the string quartets, and the VIOLIN AND STRING QUARTET as well (see my review of the hatHUT recording). There is a recording of the second String Quartet by the Ives Ensemble on hatHUT that is "only" 5 hours long, on 4 discs instead of the 5 discs it takes to hold the 6-hour recording by the Flux Quartet for Mode, that has not appeared on this site. It is superb, and available via Cadence Magazine.
See my MORTON FELDMAN: A LISTENER'S GUIDE list for more recommendations and reviews of the music of one of the finest late 20th century composers, as well as my THE 15 BEST and 31 OF THE BEST LATE 20th/21st CENTURY COMPOSERS lists.
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