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
This Is Our Music cover

This Is Our Music

The Ornette Coleman Quartet
MZUI cover

MZUI

Edvard Graham Lewis, Russell Mills, Bruce Gilbert
Old and New Dreams cover

Old and New Dreams

Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Dewey Redman, Don Cherry
The Meaning cover

The Meaning

Melchior Productions
If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours  cover

If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours

Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra
The Peach Orchard cover

The Peach Orchard

In Order to Survive, William Parker
The Impossible Humane cover

The Impossible Humane

Mixed Band Philanthropist
Touchin' on Trane cover

Touchin' on Trane

Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, William Parker
Frances the Mute cover

Frances the Mute

The Mars Volta