Search - Morton Feldman, California Ear Unit, Gloria Cheng :: Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston

	Morton Feldman, California Ear Unit, Gloria Cheng Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston Genre: Classical For Philip Guston (1984) is quintessential--and very essential--Morton Feldman. His studies of pitch and notational austerities under John Cage produced one of the most unique voices in late 20th century American music. Fe... more » « less
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CD Details

All Artists: Morton Feldman, California Ear Unit, Gloria Cheng, Gloria Cheng-Cochran
Title: Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bridge
Release Date: 11/18/1997
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830)
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaCD Credits: 4
UPCs: 090404907821, 090404907821

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording

For Philip Guston (1984) is quintessential--and very essential--Morton Feldman. His studies of pitch and notational austerities under John Cage produced one of the most unique voices in late 20th century American music. Feldman, who died in 1987, had also befriended a number of New York art world luminaries and the painter Philip Guston was one. For Philip Guston is technically a "chamber" work for piccolo, flute, piano, celesta, glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, and chimes--and lasts well over 4-1/2 hours. The work is a slow, deliberative, and ultimately meditative examination of just a handful of notes and limited pitches played with extreme slowness on usually one instrument at a time, with the flutes often balanced out by the piano or the celesta. This work demands a listener's patience, but yields immeasurable rewards, and the California EAR Unit does a tremendous job of restraint and acute inspection throughout. --Paul Cook

CD Reviews

For Philip Guston

esho2 | United States | 05/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are other performances of For Philip Guston available (on Hat Hut and Dog w/a Bone), but this recording by the California EAR Unit seems to be the one most recommended. Honestly, I can go either way, sometimes preferring Blum, Vigeland, etc to the EAR Unit, and vice versa. Feldman's later works--his best in my opinion--are extremely long with minimal events (patterns and variations) often taking place over several hours. Hence they deal with memory, or the limitation thereof. I could describe this music as introspective, meditative, or glacial, but I'm reminded of someone else's description instead (perhaps it was Arto Lindsay's). That listening to Feldman was akin to holding up an object, like a crystal, to the light and examining it from several angles for an extended time. Other great Feldman "For..." performances that I recommend are "For John Cage" (Hat Hut) by Josje Ter Haar and John Snijders of the Ives Ensemble, and "For Bunita Marcus" (LondonHall) by the great John Tilbury."

"For Philip Guston": the quick version

esho2 | 04/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blum, Vigeland, and Williams, the première musicians, recorded it on about 265 minutes. The S.E.M. Ensemble was a little bit slower (288 minutes). But this version takes only 248 minutes to play, so after listening to it you still may have time to listen to something else in the same evening! Great!"

Everyone I give this recording to likes it!

esho2 | 10/30/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have given this recording to a lot of my friends, many who have little interest in Classical music, and they are all blown away.This recording presents music of great and natural beauty."