Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel; Why Patterns?
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Free Music Notes for Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel; Why Patterns?
Free Music Review: Pioneering Minimalism
Hit: 4 Stars
Listening to Feldman's music today, it can sound dated and derivative- if only because so many have followed him down that road since. We've heard a lot of this sort of minimalist tone poem from numerous hacks and sci-fi film composers. (I'm sure John Williams keeps a stack of Feldman CDs handy when he writes incidental music for the Star Wars films.) But Feldman can still sound fresh; unlike the hacks, he is fully capable of composing melodies that linger on in the mind long after the piece ends. He's rather stingy with them, but that only makes them even more welcome when- as in the final movement of "Rothko Chapel"- they finally appear.
This, along with "The Viola in My Life", represents the most accessible part of Feldman's work, and probably (I would argue) the part most likely to still be played long after a lot of the boring and overly pretentious work of the 20th century has been condemned to the dustbin. I doubt Feldman will ever rival the great melodic works of the 18th and 19th Century masters- or modernists like Lygeti- for lasting appeal, but I think that he will always have a place in the canon.
Free Music Review: Stark and Eerie
Hit: 5 Stars
A repetitive chorus of female voices, moaning, wailing, like a train heard passing from nowhere to nowhere at three in the morning, this is the coldest offering to the ear I've ever heard. And yet, somehow, it fits both Rothko's work and the manner of his death. After the Zen no-mind of the first four tracks, Feldman embraces his listeners and--by proxy--Rothko's spirit--in the 5th track, which offers us a "warm" and charming cello motif, that the composer, in his collected writings, tells us he composed at age 15. Rothko Chapel is then, a radical listening experience of "outside" (as in interstellar space), and "inside" (as in some catchy riff lifted from Dvorak's "American").
"Why Patterns" is more familiar Feldman territory: think aural disjunction, fragmentation, etc.
Exciting, challenging, memorable--these are the three key words I would apply to this CD.
Free Music Review: My introduction to Morton Feldman
Hit: 5 Stars
A friend of mine said I should check out Rothko Chapel. He said when he was in college he would go out and play golf and bake in the sun while listening to Rothko Chapel. After hearing this I went right out and got a cd of it. I haven't played golf to it but it's still one of my favorite pieces of music.Free Music Review: not quite soporific
Hit: 4 Stars
Most of the music on this cd is very very sparing -- long tones with real silence between notes. But Morty Feldman also flirts with the baroque in these meticulously composed & arranged, textured pieces. Just don't try to use this music to wake you up. Nor to try to fall asleep to.Free Music Review: Ambient Beauty
Hit: 5 Stars
Morton Feldman may have been the prototypical minimalist. His music, though varied in effect, tends to consist of very soft, discrete sounds which slowly morph from pattern to pattern. Though his music falls into periods, roughly divided by notational practice (early music uses primarily graphic scores and aleatoric procedures, later scores tend toward more precise notation, though the rhythms still remain approximate), the effect of his output is remarkably the same throughout his life. It is intellectually challenging, beautiful ambient music. Rothko Chapel, written to be played in the famous Houston space, is a wonderful piece, one that should win new converts to the Feldman cause. It isn't daunting in length, like many later Feldman pieces, yet it retains the sonic beauty and delicacy of instrumental color that makes Feldman unique. The piece is also remarkably tonal, unlike many other Feldman works. The gorgeous hushed soprano solo sounds like a distant call to prayer. Feldman talks in the liner notes of the influence of Hebrew cantilation and you can hear it, although it is much more distant than most cantilation. This work is an example of the best kind of ambient music. It is endlessly fascinating, and yet seems to have a physical presence that does not depend on your concentration. You can listen intently or just let the sound wash over you.
Inclusion of Why Patterns? was a good idea. This work is much more typical of Feldman's style. Written for the combination of flute, glockenspiel and piano, the almost 30 minute work is a slow spinning out of subtley dissonant patterns, all at extremely quiet volume levels. The work doesn't seem to start or stop. It's as if we are dropping in on an eternal piece of music, hanging around a while and then leaving again.
As one other reviewer stated, it would be nice to have another version of Rothko Chapel available. With a composer like Feldman, alternative versions can really proove useful. So much of his music depends on chance and the sensitivity of his performers that comparisions are more important than with more standard music. The sound on this CD is wonderful. Thank you New Albion! This is my favorite Feldman CD by far!
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