The Squid's Ear Magazine

Smith Quartet with John Tilbury

Morton Feldman: Music for Piano and Strings Volume 2 [DVD-AUDIO]

Smith Quartet with John Tilbury: Morton Feldman: Music for Piano and Strings Volume 2 [DVD-AUDIO] (Matchless)

The 2nd volume of "Music for Piano and Strings" by Morton Feldman is performed by The Smith Quartet with John Tilbury, presenting "Patterns In a Chromatic Field", and "Piano, violin, Viola, Cello", on DVD audio to allow for the length of these large works.
 

Price: $28.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:


product information:

Personnel:



Deirdre Cooper-cello

John Tilbury-piano

Nic Pendlebury-viola

Darragh Morgan-violin


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




DVD Audio, PAL format, region free. This disc can only be played on a DVD player or on a computer with a DVD drive.

UPC: 502049250229

Label: Matchless
Catalog ID: MRDVD02
Squidco Product Code: 16799

Format: DVD
Condition: New
Released: 2012
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: DVD Digipack
Recorded live in 2006 at the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"This second volume of 'Music for Piano and Strings by Morton Feldman' brings together two fairly lengthy pieces for piano & Strings. Both pieces on offer here date from Feldman's latter work in the mid to late 80's, and both pieces here are played with wonderful precision, feeling & angular grace by pianist John Tilbury & The Smith Quartet.

This release comes in the form of a DVD, so both pieces could be fitted on one disc. The two pieces on offer here are: 'Patterns In a Chromatic Field' from 1981, and 'Piano, violin, Viola, Cello' from 1987- which was one of the last pieces Feldman wrote. The wonderful performances of both pieces were recorded live at the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary music in 2006. The DVD comes in a cd sized gatefold slip sleeve which also includes a eight page booklet, which features an essay on both pieces by The Wire writer & composer Philip Clark. The DVD offers up a total running time of two hours & fifty six minutes.

First up we have 'Patterns in a Chromatic Field' which brings together pianist John Tilbury with cellist Deirdre Copper, for an hour & twenty seven minute version of this Feldman piece from 1981. The piece is quite active & shifting, by Feldman standards, with the pair altering the pace & patterns in a effortless manner. It all starts with a fairly fast angular/ rhythmic mixture of sawing cello work & stabbing/ jerking piano notation. But as the piece progress the pair slip from: eerier 'n' slowed piano pitter patters & cello drifts, onto to cello string picks & jaunting yet haunting piano runs, through to low end piano runs & sawing cello textures, onto creepy 'n' tumbling piano patterns that brood on a angular sea of cello dwell, and beyond. The patterns seemingly shift from one to another every few minutes or so, but sometimes a single pattern with stay in place as long as five minutes- this seemingly un-predictable nature of the piece really makes it a wonderful ride, and the near on hour & a half runtime seems to fly by.

The second & last piece here is 'Piano, violin, Viola, Cello', and as it title suggest it's built around: piano( played by John Tilbury), Violin( played by Darragh Morgan), Viola( played by Nick Pendlebury), and Cello( by Deirdre Copper). This version of the piece runs for one hour & twenty eight minutes, and compared with the first track this is a lot slower, less shifting & more haunting in its feel. The piece drifts into sonic view with a wonderful slow-mo mixture of the carefully placed, eerier & spaced piano notation, which are hovered under by a brooding & skeletal string drifts/ebbs. The whole track drifts along in a captivating & chillingly slow 'n' ebbing manner, with sparse piano notation either drifting on it's on or been wrapped in a sad/ contemplative slowed/ thin string saw or ebb. Later on in the tracks life time the string elements seem to hover more on their own creating sombre sustains. Once again there are patterns present here, but they stay at the same deeply slowed & considered pace through-out, so you literal find yourself slowing down to the tracks lingering & sombre pace.

Both tracks here are played with both wonderful precision, feeling & thoughtfulness- I've heard quite a few of Feldman's pieces played by John Tilbury in the past, and he really does seem to nail the slow, sad yet captivating feeling of Feldman's work perfectly. Yet he's also very at home playing the composer more angular & rhythmic work too- which of course both of these tracks showcase. And of course the other players here also manage to put on great considered & controlled performances too.

All told this is a wonderfully recorded & played collection of Morton Feldman's later pieces, and I can see this of course appealing to fans of the great mans work. But it's also a excellent introduction to the work of one of the 20th century greatest and most dramatic minimalist/modern classical composers."-Roger Batty, multi genre music

See also Volume 1.
DVD Audio, PAL format, region free. This disc can only be played on a DVD player or on a computer with a DVD drive.

Artist Biographies

"John Tilbury (born 1 February 1936) is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM.

Tilbury studied piano at the Royal College of Music with Arthur Alexander and James Gibb and also with Zbigniew Drzewiecki in Warsaw. 1968 he was the winner of the Gaudeamus competition in the Netherlands.

During the 1960s, Tilbury was closely associated with the composer Cornelius Cardew, whose music he has interpreted and recorded and a member of the Scratch Orchestra. His biography of Cardew, "Cornelius Cardew - A life unfinished" was published in 2008.

Tilbury has also recorded the works of Howard Skempton and John White, among many others, and has also performed adaptations of the radio plays of Samuel Beckett.

With guitarist AMM bandmate Keith Rowe's electroacoustic ensemble M.I.M.E.O., Tilbury recorded The Hands of Caravaggio, inspired by the painter's The Taking of Christ {1602). In this live performance, twelve of the members of M.I.M.E.O. were positioned around the piano in a deliberate echo of Christ's Last Supper. The thirteenth M.I.M.E.O. member (Cor Fuhler) is credited with "inside piano" as he interacted and interfered with Tilbury's playing by manipulating and damping the instrument's strings, essentially doing piano preparation in real time. Critic Brian Olewnick describes the album as "A staggering achievement, one is tempted to call The Hands of Caravaggio the first great piano concerto of the 21st century."

Another notable recent recording of Tilbury's was Duos for Doris (like The Hands of Caravaggio also on Erstwhile Records), a collaboration with Keith Rowe. It is widely considered a landmark recording in the genre of electroacoustic improvisation (or "EAI").

In 2013 he collaborated with artist Armando Lulaj in FIEND performance at the National Theatre of Tirana (Albania)."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tilbury)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



Track 1. Patterns In A Chromatic Field 1:27:49

Track 2. Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello 1:28:40

Related Categories of Interest:

Matchless

DVD
Compositional Forms
Avant-Garde
Piano & Keyboards
Stringed Instruments
Instant Rewards

Search for other titles on the label:
Matchless.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Butcher, John / Thomas Lehn / John Tilbury
Lights
(Fataka)
Recorded for the release concert of their 2013 album Exta, the trio of John Butcher on saxophones, Thomas Lehn on analog synthesizer and John Tilbury on piano captured this extraordinary live concert at Cafe Oto in London, only the second time the group had performed together, recording in two extended sets but segmented into four exceptional and dramatic improvisations.
AMM (Rowe / Prevost + Tilbury)
Last Calls
(Matchless)
To celebrate drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday, Café Oto hosted four concerts once a week in June, 2022, each a differing configuration from Prévost's history; this final concert reconvened for an extended improvisation between Prévost & guitarist Keith Rowe, with a "Postscript" from pianist John Tilbury recorded at his home in January, 2023.
Formanex w/ AMM / Christian Wolff / Keith Rowe / Ralf Wehowsky / John Tilbury / Phill Niblock / ONsemble / Seth Cluett / Radu Malfatti / Michael Pisaro / Julien Ottavi / Kasper T. Toeplitz
20 Years Of Experimental Music [10 CDS]
(Mikroton Recordings)
Their first release in 2000 performing Cornelius Cardew's "Treatise", for 20 years the Formanex quartet of sound artists, conceptualists and experimenters Anthony Taillard, Christophe Havard, Emmanuel Leduc, and Julien Ottavi are heard here in collaborations with Keith Rowe, Kasper T. Toeplitz, Ralf Wehowsky, Seth Cluett, Michael Pisaro, Radu Malfatti, &c.
Cage, John
Winter Music
(Another Timbre)
John Cage's 1957 composition in a visceral realisation for four pianos, played by John Tilbury, Philip Thomas, Mark Knoop and Catherine Laws, using chance procedures to assign each of the pianist's five of the twenty pages of the score, the pianists agreeing on an overall duration of 40 minutes and preparing their parts independently, performed without rehearsal.
Davies, Angharad / Rhodri Davies / Michael Duch / Lina Lapelyte / John Lely & John Tilbury
Goldsmiths
(Another Timbre)
An extended group improvisation and compositions by Lely, Sarah Hughes, and Jurg Frey, subtle and beautiful performances by Angharad Davies (violin), Rhodri Davies (electric harp), Michael Duch (bass), Lina Lapelyte (violin), John Lely (objects & electronics) & John Tilbury (piano).
Edwards / Sanders / Tilbury
A Field Perpetually At The Edge Of Disorder
(Fataka)
Three superb London improvisers, two from the new generation of free improv--bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders--in a trio with legendary pianist John Tilbury in a two part work of tension and release, performed live at Cafe Oto in 2013.
Chang / Davies / Drouin / Durrant / Patterson / Tilbury
Variable Formations
(Another Timbre)
A live recording at Cafe Oto in 2013 from this sextet in an extended and dynamic piece in which the musicians develop material they had presented in small groups in the first half of the concert, mixing improvised and prepared elements.
Moser, Michael
Resonant Cuts: (2 CDs AND BOOK)
(Edition Rz)
Book and 2 CDs documenting a 2010 concert and sound installation by Carsten Seiffarth and Michael Moser, with Polweschsel & guests (Burkhard Beins, Axel Dorner, &c) performing the concert.
Jennings / Cage / Tilbury / Lexer
Lost Daylight
(Another Timbre)
Pianist John Tilbury is captured with remarkable clarity by Sebastian Lexer as he performs works by composers Terry Jennings and John Cage (with Lexer on electronics); superb performances!
AMM w/ John Butcher
Trinity
(Matchless)
New 2008 recordings from AMM - Eddie Prevost & John Tilbury with John Butcher - performing at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, England.
AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Tunes Without Measure or End
(Matchless)
AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Live in Allentown USA
(Matchless)
AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Combines + Laminates + Treatise '84
(Matchless)
AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Newfoundland
(Matchless)
Other Recommended Releases:
Riley, Terry played by John Tilbury
Keyboard Studies
(Another Timbre)
There is uncertainty of when pianist John Tilbury recorded these three solo keyboard works by his associate and friend, legendary minimalist composer Terry Riley, performing "Keyboard Study #1" and #2, along with "Dorian Reeds" using piano, electric organ, harpsichord & celesta, captured with excellent quality in superb performances from Tilbury at the height of his powers.
Smith Quartet with John Tilbury
Morton Feldman: Music for Piano and Strings Volume 3 [DVD-AUDIO]
(Matchless)
Recorded live at the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music in 2006, this is the 3rd and final volume of works by Morton Feldman performed by the Smith Quartet with John Tilbury on piano, recorded in high quality DVD audio and with extensive liner notes by Tilbury.
AMM
Spanish Fighters
(Matchless)
Recorded at the festival Neposlusno (Sound Disobedience) in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2012, the AMM duo of Eddie Prevost on percussion and John Tilbury on piano perform an extend improvisation of tension and dynamic, delicately balancing sound in a rich dialog.
Feldman, Morton played by John Tilbury & Philip Thomas
Two Pianos And Other Pieces 1953-1969 [2 CDs]
(Another Timbre)
"Two Pianos" is one of Morton Feldman's most experimental and radical works, performed here by John Tilbury & Philip Thomas; plus lesser known works including 'Piece for Four Pianos', 'Between Categories', 'False Relationships and the Extended Ending' and 'Two Pieces for Three Pianos'.
Allum, Jennifer / Ute Kanngiesser
Bell Tower Recordings
(Matchless)
Members of Eddie Prevost's weekly improvisation workshops, violinist Jennifer Allum and cellist Ute Kanngiesser, recorded these 3 improvisations, running the gamut from spacious harmonics to vigorously weaving dialog, in 3 rooms of St Augustine's Bell Tower in London.
Feldman, Morton
Piano Three Hands, Intermission 5, Vertical Thoughts 2, Extensions 3, Four Instruments, Intermission 5, Piano Piece 1956 A + B, Intersection 3, Instruments 1
(Edition Rz)
A collection of Feldman compositions primarily for piano as recorded by his earliest interpreters: Cornelius Cardew, John Tilbury, David Tutor, Cantilene Chamber Players, and Feldman himself.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Parker, Evan / Eddie Prevost
Tools Of Imagination
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
An awe-inspiring concert between two of London's free improvisation legends, recording at Pardon To Tu [Teatr Nowy Clubroom] in Poland--percussionist Eddie Prevost and saxophonist Evan Parker on tenor sax--in an hour-long performance that starts with Prevost's reverberant bowed metal, as the two build and recede with profound concentration and masterful skill.
Carlson, Dustin (w/ Mitchell / Gentile / Hopkins / Morgan / Trudel / Gouker)
Air Ceremony
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A strong album of modern creative jazz from New York guitarist Dustin Carlson, in a septet with Matt Mitchell on synth, Kate Gentile on drums, Adam Hopkins on bass, Nathaniel Morgan on alto saxophone, Eric Trudel on baritone saxophone, Danny Gouker on trumpet, sophisticated, intricate, lyrical and compelling compositions driving the enthusiasm and exuberance of their "ceremony"!
Hopkins, Adam
Crickets
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A great example of the current Downtown/Brooklyn scene, using jazz as a jumping-off point to merge free playing, fusion, and rock stylings into an enthusiastic, and technically brilliant album, as bassist Adam Hopkins provides the compositions performed with the sextet of Anna Webber, Ed Rosenberg, & Josh Sinton on sax, Jonathan Goldberger on guitar, and Devin Gray on drums.
Sacks, Jacob
Fishes
(Clean Feed)
Eleven new works from New York pianist Jacob Sacks in a quintet with some of NY's finest--Ellery Eskelin on tenor saxophone, Tony Malaby on tenor & soprano saxophones, Michael Formanek on bass, and Dan Weiss on drums--referencing traditional jazz influences like Monk & Mingus with superbly creative soloing fostered by the freedom of Sack's compositions.
Ikeda / Prevost
The Whole Moon Rests in a Dewdrop on the Grass
(Matchless)
Performing live at Cafe OTO in London, 2018, Japanese sound artist and composer Ken Ikeda comes together with percussionist and Matchless label-leader Eddie Prevost for a concert of resonant, rich improvisation, Ikeda's electronics complementing Prevost's bowed cymbals as the duo builds to a diverse offering of powerful yet controlled sonic uproar; stunning.
Feldman, Morton
Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello
(Another Timbre)
Morton Feldman's final composition, originally premiered in 1987, here performed by pianist Mark Knoop, violinist Aisha Orazbayeva, violist Bridget Carey, and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze, recording a year after their successful performance at London's Cafe Oto, maintaining focus and concentration on this large, unhurried work of micro-variations.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC