Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet cover

Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet

Composer
Released

This roughly 80-minute piece was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and written with them and pianist Aki Takahashi in mind as the performers; they premiered it in Los Angeles in 1985, and recorded this version in 1993. It’s a breathtaking record, the two elements of the title working in unison but not together — the strings release long, slow chords as the piano offers single notes, or short figures of between two and at most six notes, all swathed in shimmering reverberation with the sustain pedal held to the floor throughout. The tiny variations on a very simple theme make you feel like you’re picking up leaves one at a time and staring at them, noticing their differences and their similarities.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
 Clarinet And String Quartet cover

Clarinet And String Quartet

Anthony Burr, Charles Curtis, Che-Yen Chen, Gascia Ouzounian, Graeme Jennings
Improvisationen cover

Improvisationen

Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza
Bag It cover

Bag It

The Thing
Queries cover

Queries

Lithops
In for a Penny, In for a Pound cover

In for a Penny, In for a Pound

Henry Threadgill Zooid
This Is Our Music cover

This Is Our Music

The Ornette Coleman Quartet
Ogden Garden cover

Ogden Garden

Kryssi Battalene, Wednesday Knudsen
Since Time Is Gravity  cover

Since Time Is Gravity

Natural Information Society
Mimikry cover

Mimikry

Alva Noto, Blixa Bargeld, ANBB
Blues & Roots cover

Blues & Roots

Charles Mingus