Why not begin the week with something quiet?
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello (1987); Aleck Karis (piano), Curtis Macomber (violin), Danielle Farina (viola), Christopher Finckel (cello), 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
How reluctantly
the bee emerges from deep
within the peony—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1927-1986, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Rothko Chapel (1971); Markus Creed (cond.), SWR Vokalensemble (Vocal Ensemble), et al., live, Germany (Cathedral of Speyer, Schwetzinger), 2017
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), The Red Studio (1911), detail
*****
reading table
Coolness—
the sound of the bell
as it leaves the bell.—Yosa Buson (1716-1784), translated from Japanese by Robert Hass
string quartet festival
day one
A couple years ago I heard the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet play this piece at the Museum of Contemporary Art—one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), String Quartet No. 2 (1983); FLUX Quartet, live, London (The Tanks at Tate Modern), 2016
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lagniappe
reading table
Who has not found the Heaven – below –
Will fail of it above –
For Angels rent the House next ours,
Wherever we remove –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 1609 (Franklin)
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Christian Wolff (1986); Eberhard Blum (flute), Nils Vigland (piano, celesta), 1992
It can be hard to recall, after an hour or two, what the world sounded like before this began.
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lagniappe
listening room
Clear, open, luminous: pianist Aki Takahashi’s recently released recording of For Bunita Marcus (1985), available on Spotify, is one of the finest renderings of Feldman’s unique sound-world that I’ve ever heard.
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); S.E.M. Ensemble, 2000
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Violin and String Quartet (1985); Pellegrini Quartet with Peter Rundel (violin)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
This I could listen to all day.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986); Blair McMillen (piano) and Ryan Olivier (video processing), live, Philadelphia, 2014
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
My obsession with surface is the subject of my music. In that sense, my compositions are really not ‘compositions’ at all. One might call them time canvases in which I more or less prime the canvas with an overall hue of the music.
—Morton Feldman, “Between Categories” (Give My Regards to Eighth Street)
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random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
This I could listen to all day.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); Claire Chase (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Steven Schick (percussion), Sarah Rothenberg (piano, celesta), live, Houston (Rothko Chapel), 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
today, Oak Park, Ill.
Some sounds you listen to; others you inhabit.
Morton Feldman (1926-1981, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Between Categories (1969); Yarn Wire, live, Stony Brook, N.Y., 2017
*****
Another take.
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
James Webb (1975-), Prayer (through December 31st)
alone
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986); Jesse Myers (piano), live, Seattle, 2018
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), First Stone (print, artist’s proof), 1961
