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Feldman: Complete Music for Cello & Piano / Marotto, Nonken
Mode Records

Feldman: Complete Music for Cello & Piano / Marotto, Nonken

Modern Contemplative Serene Dark Melancholic
$40.99

Details

Composer
Morton Feldman
Artist
Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
Format
CD
Label
Mode Records
Released
Apr 19, 2024
Catalog #
MOD-CD-340
UPC
764593034025

About

This release brings together ALL of Morton Feldman’s compositions for cello and piano, including unpublished works and a first recording.

Together, these works tell the story of Feldman’s music. They span 35 years — over half his lifetime — from when he was searching for his voice as a student to when he was opening new doors in the last years of his life.

The album is bookended by two realizations of the graphic score “Durations 2” (1960), giving an opportunity to hear what the flexibility of graphic notation can bring.

The “Sonatina” (1946) is the earliest work here, and a first recording. Displaying the influence of Béla Bartók, Feldman wrote for the cello sound he loved without fully understanding the realities of playing the instrument. The resulting solo part is naively virtuosic and often even impossible to play. For this recording, Stephen Marotto keeps as close as possible to the written score, aiming to fulfill what Feldman heard in his mind’s ear.

By 1948, Feldman had been studying privately with the composer Stefan Wolpe for several years. The unpublished “Two Pieces,” from that year is a fluctuating music held together not by logic, but through its carefully poised gestures — what Wolpe called “shape.” While the emotional drama of this and other early works would soon disappear from Feldman’s music, it was above all the idea of “shape” that remained with him for the rest of his life.

In 1950, Feldman met John Cage, who shepherded him into the world of the New York avant-garde. The unpublished, compact “Composition for cello and piano” (1951) is a sudden breakthrough, yet it already contains the DNA of his very last works in its minimal material and blurred memories of sounds.

“For Stockhausen, Cage, Stravinsky, and Mary Sprinson” (1972) is an ephemeral, unpublished piece, a shard of music broken off from the main body of work Feldman was producing at the time. It consists of just two musical moments separated by silence — the same chord expressed in two different ways.

At almost 1 hour and 29 minutes, “Patterns in a Chromatic Field” (1981) is one of Feldman’s late, long-duration works, and it is perhaps the best known of the works recorded here.

Liner notes by Samuel Clay Birmaher.

Tracklist 24 tracks

  1. 1 Durations II (realization 1) 04:09
    Track
    1
    Title
    Durations II (realization 1)
    Duration
    04:09
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  2. 2 I. — 00:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    00:29
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  3. 3 II. — 00:30
    Track
    3
    Title
    II. —
    Duration
    00:30
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  4. 4 III. — 00:21
    Track
    4
    Title
    III. —
    Duration
    00:21
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  5. 5 IV. — 00:28
    Track
    5
    Title
    IV. —
    Duration
    00:28
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  6. 6 V. — 00:26
    Track
    6
    Title
    V. —
    Duration
    00:26
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  7. 7 VI. — 00:26
    Track
    7
    Title
    VI. —
    Duration
    00:26
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  8. 8 VII. — 00:24
    Track
    8
    Title
    VII. —
    Duration
    00:24
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  9. 9 VIII. — 01:31
    Track
    9
    Title
    VIII. —
    Duration
    01:31
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  10. 10 I. Allegro 03:35
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:35
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  11. 11 II. Larghetto cantabile e tranquillo 03:51
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Larghetto cantabile e tranquillo
    Duration
    03:51
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  12. 12 III. Allegro grazioso 02:09
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Allegro grazioso
    Duration
    02:09
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  13. 13 No. 1. Allegro 00:34
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 1. Allegro
    Duration
    00:34
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  14. 14 No. 2. Slow 01:09
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 2. Slow
    Duration
    01:09
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  15. 15 For Stockhausen, Cage, Stravinsky and Mary Sprinson 00:46
    Track
    15
    Title
    For Stockhausen, Cage, Stravinsky and Mary Sprinson
    Duration
    00:46
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  16. 16 Pages 1-19, Measures 1-387 14:19
    Track
    16
    Title
    Pages 1-19, Measures 1-387
    Duration
    14:19
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  17. 17 Pages 20-26, Measures 388-588 09:56
    Track
    17
    Title
    Pages 20-26, Measures 388-588
    Duration
    09:56
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  18. 18 Pages 27-34, Measures 559-792 14:16
    Track
    18
    Title
    Pages 27-34, Measures 559-792
    Duration
    14:16
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  19. 19 Pages 35-45, Measures 793-864 13:20
    Track
    19
    Title
    Pages 35-45, Measures 793-864
    Duration
    13:20
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  20. 20 Pages 46-51, Measures 865-1045 08:13
    Track
    20
    Title
    Pages 46-51, Measures 865-1045
    Duration
    08:13
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  21. 21 Pages 52-63, Measures 1046-1166 13:06
    Track
    21
    Title
    Pages 52-63, Measures 1046-1166
    Duration
    13:06
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  22. 22 Pages 64-68, Measures 1167-1426 07:49
    Track
    22
    Title
    Pages 64-68, Measures 1167-1426
    Duration
    07:49
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  23. 23 Pages 69-end, Measures 1427-end 07:46
    Track
    23
    Title
    Pages 69-end, Measures 1427-end
    Duration
    07:46
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken
  24. 24 Durations II (realization 2) 03:52
    Track
    24
    Title
    Durations II (realization 2)
    Duration
    03:52
    Composer
    Morton Feldman
    Performer
    Stephen Marotto, Marilyn Nonken