Percussionist William Winant writes: I've been into Feldman ever since I first heard Max Neuhaus's recording of "King of Denmark for solo percussion all the way back in high school some 35 years ago. He's been one of my favorite composers ever since then. His music is totally original and just plain BEAUTIFUL. I've made 3 or 4 recordings of his music over the years, and I will be doing his King of Denmark at the Contemporary Art Museum in Porto Portugal this March, in connection with the Robert Rauschenberg Exhibit, along with choreographer Trisha Brown, pianist John Tilbury, and vocalist Joan LaBarbara. As an improviser his music had a very heavy influence especially the way his sounds seem to float in space, like the early painting of Phillip Guston.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Two players comment
On Monday, February 4, 2008, clarinetist Carey Bell and percussionists William Winant and Christopher Froh will perform Morton Feldman’s Bass Clarinet and Percussion as part of the Players’ “Strongbox of American Music” concert at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum.
Carey Bell:
Feldman is one of my favorite composers. He is bravely patient with letting his music unfold, often at a glacial pace, and the results are very spacious (some might say spacey) and often surprisingly gentle and thoughtful. Bass Clarinet and Percussion is something I first heard through the recommendation of a colleague, and I fell in love with it right away. A rigorously rhythmical piece, but tremendously calm and detached from our normal sense of time. Patterns slowly morph even as they emerge, the mood inches from peaceful to ominous to meditative.
Chris Froh:
This will actually be the first Feldman piece that I've performed although Feldman is one of my very favorite composers. The completely static dynamic landscape coupled with absolute patience in allowing the music to unfurl is what has always attracted me to his music. Although the percussion parts aren't virtuosic, they certainly aren't easy. Maintaining such a hushed quality of sound for such a long time is far from relaxing. For me, it is the height of tension.
