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
Aliseen cover

Aliseen

Kaski, Jorma Tapio
This Is Our Music cover

This Is Our Music

The Ornette Coleman Quartet
0ºC cover

0ºC

Ryoji Ikeda
Treasure Island cover

Treasure Island

Keith Jarrett
ABC123 cover

ABC123

To Rococo Rot
Contraduzindo cover

Contraduzindo

Tuzé de Abreu
Ubique cover

Ubique

Claire Chase, Cory Smythe, Katinka Kleijn, Seth Parker Woods
Music Is A Hungry Ghost cover

Music Is A Hungry Ghost

I-Sound, To Rococo Rot
Dependent and Happy cover

Dependent and Happy

Ricardo Villalobos