Search - Morton Feldman, Vienna Klangforum, Cambreling :: Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett

A slow, ponderous interpretation

R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 02/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have been listening to FOR SAMUEL BECKETT for several years now -- the first recording from 1991 by the Ensemble Modern on hatART, conducted by Arturo Tamayo. It remains one of my favorite Feldman works, even as I have gradually come to consider him one of the best late 20th century composers as I have heard more and more of his compositions. So I decided to check out this alternative version by the Klangforum Wien, which is 54 minutes long, as compared to the 43 minute Ensemble Modern version. Quite possibly in part because I heard it first and came to love it, I vastly prefer the faster interpretation, which I find to be light, crisp and sparkling (not aggressive and claustrophobic), while this Kairos recording sounds heavy, bloated and plodding by comparison. The sound quality of the hatART disc is far better too, much cleaner.



FOR SAMUEL BECKETT (1987) was Feldman's last composition, I believe, and it has more dynamism than some of his other late works, especially in the faster reading. For me, it evokes a sense of wonder. The rocking motion of the chords repeating, but slightly differently every time, is like a revolving prism with light refracting in unpredictable directions and colors. It could be that the slower version is truer to Samuel Beckett, but I actually get a kick out of Beckett -- his view is dark, but it's full of black humor.



So my recommendation is to check out the hatART recording, which has been reissued and is still available (try the Cadence Magazine site), and by all means read Beckett too -- WAITING FOR GODOT, of course, and also the tragicomic trilogy of novels, MOLLOY/MALONE DIES/THE UNNAMABLE -- some of the best music and some of the best writing of the 20th century.



See my MORTON FELDMAN: A LISTENER'S GUIDE list for more recordings and reviews.

"