Review: Morton Feldman - Triadic Memories; Morton Feldman - Late Works with Clarinet

Morton Feldman - Triadic Memories �(Long Arms);
Morton Feldman - Late Works with Clarinet �(Mode)

At the 1981 premiere of this monumental work (in London, with Roger Woodward at the piano), the composer described it as �the largest butterfly in captivity�. If so, it�s one with very slowly and gently beating wings and little overt sense of being held prisoner. The work, for solo piano, can last as long as 90 minutes, its brief patterns repeating, always with slight � very slight � variations in tempo, the volume never rising above ppp. Its hypnotic quality, the almost delirious sense of languor and beauty, requires an interpreter with an extraordinary degree of both touch and temporal acuity. This performance, a 1992 recording by Anton Batagov, is, somewhat frustratingly, only part of the way there. The piece times in at just over 67 minutes, giving an indication of a bit of a rush-through, a just-apparent disinclination to linger. There is also something less than the ideal understanding of varying the pressure applied to the keys, of creating subtle, even poetic, undulations of overlapping sound waves. The inherent loveliness of the work seeps through to be sure; it�s as gorgeous a compostion as one can find in contemporary music. But compared to the version on John Tilbury's Morton Feldman-All Piano (1999, London Hall), this disc seems a bit wan. Tilbury allows himself almost 80 minutes to traverse the territory, for instance, and his tactile sensitivity, while less easily measurable, infuses the work with life and pulse. Still, Triadic Memories should be universally known and this disc gives enough of a fair treatment to make it recommendable to the new listener. Just don�t forget the Tilbury.

The mere thought of Feldman and the clarinet is enough to send shivers of anticipation down one�s spine, so Late Works with Clarinet was an eagerly awaited release. Three pieces featuring Carol Robinson on the sultry reed are offered, beginning with �Three Clarinets, Cello and Piano.� The 1971 work hails from that intermediate moment in Feldman�s career when his earlier sparse purity was beginning to give way to a relatively sensual minimalism. It�s a short piece by his standards, less than ten minutes, but contains an expansively breathlike quality, the three clarinets in near unison wash against the cello and piano, sometimes reaching surprisingly loud and emotional points. If the clarinet causes one�s whistle to whet, the idea of Feldman composing for bass clarinet might lead to uncontrollable drooling. The deep, woody tones of the instrument would seem to be a perfect match for Feldman�s soft, profound ruminations. �Bass Clarinet and Percussion� (1981) is a darkly gorgeous piece, rich and mysterious, in its odd way extremely romantic. The percussion (largely tympani and gongs) lays out loose patterns in one implied rhythm, the bass clarinet (often played in its higher ranges) slightly off-rhythm, creating a floating sense of serendipitously interlocking paths. In some ways, it�s everything a late Gavin Bryars should be but never quite is. The disc closes with the lengthy (42 minutes) �Clarinet and String Quartet� from 1983, wherein the action maintains a surface similarity � the reed playing four and five note patterns over breathing string harmonics � but, of course, the reality is consistently changing, each phrase subtly different from the last like the adjoining weaves in the Turkish carpets Feldman so admired. The piece continues on almost granularly, each moment relating only to its immediate predecessor and descendent, beautiful molecules drifting off into the ether. Late Works with Clarinet is a lovely recording, a must for all Feldman admirers.