Feldman, Morton

Feldman, Morton , significant American composer and pedagogue; b. N.Y., Jan. 12, 1926; d. Buffalo, Sept. 3, 1987. At 12, he began piano lessons with Vera Maurina-Press. In 1942 he commenced composition lessons with Riegger, and in 1944 with Wolpe. In 1950 he was befriended by Cage, and soon moved in the circles of such musicians as Brown, Wolff, and Tudor, and such abstract expressionist painters as Rothko, Guston, Kline, Pollock, and Rauschenberg. The influence of these musicians and painters was pronounced, but Feldman pursued his own path as a composer. In his Projections series (1950–51), he first utilized graph notation. In 1953 he abandoned it, only to resort to it again from time to time between 1958 and 1967. In his Durations series (1960–61), he utilized what he described as “race-course” notation in which exact notation for each instrumental part still allows for relative freedom in durations and vertical coordination. About 1979 he began to compose works of extended duration, producing in his 2nd String Quartet (1983) a score which can run for almost 6 hours. In 1966 Feldman held a Guggenheim fellowship. He received awards from the National Inst. of Arts and Letters in 1970 and from the Koussevitzky Foundation in 1975. From 1973 until his death he was the Edgard Varese Prof, at the State Univ. of N.Y. at Buffalo, where he was a major influence as both a composer and a teacher. Collections of his writings were ed. by W. Zimmermann as Morton Feldman Essays (Kerpen, 1985), by J.-Y. Bousseur as Morton Feldman, Ecrits et Paroles (Paris, 1998), and by B.H. Friedman as Morton Feldman: Give My Regards to Eighth Street: Essays & Lectures (Boston, 1999).

Works

Journey to the End of Night for Soprano or Tenor, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, and Bassoon (1947); Only for Voice (1947); Illusions for Piano (1949); Piece for Violin and Piano (1950); 2 Intermissions for Piano (1950); Projection I for Cello (1950), II for Flute, Trumpet, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1951), III for 2 Pianos (1951), IV for Violin and Piano (1951), and V for 3 Flutes, Trumpet, 2 Pianos, and 3 Cellos (1951); 4 Songs to e.e. cummings for Soprano, Piano, and Cello (1951); Jackson Pollock, film score (1951); Marginal Intersection for Orch. (1951); Structures for String Quartet (1951); Extensions I for Violin and Piano (1951), II (withdrawn), III for Piano (1952), and IV for 3 Pianos (1952–53); Intersection I for Orch. (1951), 71 for Piano (1951), III for Piano (1953), and IV for Cello (1953); Intermission V for Piano (1952) and VI for Piano or 2 Pianos (1953); Piano Piece (1952, 1955, 1956a, 1956b, 1963, 1964); 11 Instruments for Flute, Alto Flute, Horn, Trumpet, Bass Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1953); Intersection for Tape (1953); 3 Pieces for Piano (1954); 2 Pieces for 2 Pianos (1954); 3 Pieces for String Quartet (1954, 1954, 1956); 2 Pieces for 6 Instruments for Flute, Alto Flute, Horn, Trumpet, Violin, and Cello (1956); Piano (3 Hands) (1957); Piece for 4 Pianos (1957); 2 Pianos (1957); Ixion for 10 Instruments (1958; N.Y., April 14, 1966); Out of “Last Pieces” for Orch. (1958); Piano 4 Hands (1958); 2 Instruments for Horn and Cello (1958); Atlantis for 17 Instruments (1959; also for 10 Instruments); Last Pieces for Piano (1959); The Swallows of Salangan for Chorus and 23 Instruments (1960); Durations I for Alto Flute, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1960), 77 for Cello and Piano (1960), 771 for Tuba, Piano, and Violin (1961), IV for Violin, Cello, and Vibraphone (1961), and V for Horn, Celesta, Piano, Harp, Vibraphone, Violin, and Cello (1961); Structures for Orch. (1960–62); Intervals for Bass-baritone, Trombone, Cello, Vibraphone, and Percussion (1961); The Straits of Magellan for Flute, Horn, Trumpet, Piano, Amplified Guitar, Harp, and Double Bass (1961); 2 Pieces for Clarinet and String Quartet (1961); For Franz Kline for Soprano, Horn, Piano, Tubular Bells, Violin, and Cello (1962); The O’Hara Songs for Bass-baritone, Tubular Bells, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1962); Christian Wolff in Cambridge for Chorus (1963); De Kooning for Horn, Percussion, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1963); Rabbi Akiba for Soprano and 10 Instruments (1963); Vertical Thoughts I for 2 Pianos (1963), 77 for Violin and Piano (1963), III for Soprano, Flute, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, 2 Percussion, Piano, Celesta, Violin, Cello, and Double Bass (1963), IV for Piano (1963), and V for Soprano, Tuba, Percussion, Celesta, and Violin (1963); Chorus and Instruments I for Chorus, Horn, Tuba, Percussion, Piano, Celesta, Violin, Cello, and Double Bass (1963) and 77 for Chorus, Tuba, and Tubular Bells (1967); The King of Denmark for Percussion (1964); Numbers for Flute, Horn, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion, Piano, Celesta, Violin, Cello, and Double Bass (1964); 4 Instruments for Tubular Bells, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1965); 2 Pieces for 3 Pianos (1966); First Principles I (1966) and 77 (1966–67) for 19 Instruments; In Search of an Orchestration for Orch. (1967); False Relationships and the Extended Ending for Trombone, Tubular Bells, 3 Pianos, Violin, and Cello (1968); Between Categories for 2 Tubular Bells, 2 Pianos, 2 Violins, and 2 Cellos (1969); On Time and the Instrumental Factor for Orch. (1969; Dallas, April 24, 1971); Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety for 12 Instruments (1970); The Viola in My Life I for Viola, Flute, Percussion, Piano, Violin, and Cello (London, Sept. 19, 1970), 77 for Viola, Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Celesta, Violin, and Cello (1970), 777 for Viola and Piano (1970), and IV for Viola and Orch. (Venice, Sept. 16, 1971); I Met Heine in the Rue Furstenberg for Mezzo-soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1971); Rothko Chapel for Soprano, Alto, Chorus, Percussion, Celesta, and Viola (1971; Houston, April 1972); 3 Clarinets, Cello, and Piano (1971; BBC, London, March 1972); Chorus and Orchestra I (1971; Cologne, March 1973); and 77 for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1972; London, Jan. 5, 1973); Cello and Orchestra (1972); Pianos and Voices 77, renamed Pianos and Voices for 5 Pianos and 5 Women’s Voices (1972); Voices and Instruments I for Chorus, 2 Flutes, English Horn, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Timpani, Piano, and Double Bass (Dartington, Aug. 11, 1972) and 77 for 3 Women’s Voices, Flute, 2 Cellos, and Double Bass (1972); Voice and Instruments I for Soprano and Orch. (1972; Berlin, March 14, 1973) and II for Woman’s Voice, Clarinet, Cello, and Double Bass (1974); For Frank O’Hara for Flute, Clarinet, 2 Percussion, Piano, Violin, and Cello (1973); String Quartet and Orchestra (1973); Voices and Cello for 2 High Voices and Cello (1973); Instruments I for Alto Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, English Horn, Trombone, Percussion, and Cello (1974), II for Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion, Harp, Piano, and Double Bass (1974), III for Flute, Oboe, and Percussion (1977), and IV: Why Patterns? for Violin, Piano, and Percussion (1978; also for Flute, Alto Flute, Percussion, and Piano (1979); 4 Instruments for Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano (1975); Piano and Orchestra (1975); Elemental Procedures for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1976; West German Radio, Cologne, Jan. 22, 1977); Oboe and Orchestra (1976); Orchestra (Glasgow, Sept. 18, 1976); Routine Investigations for Oboe, Trumpet, Piano, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass (1976); Voice, Violin, and Piano (Holland Festival, June 2, 1976); Neither, monodrama for Soprano and Orch. (Rome, May 13, 1977); Piano (1977); Flute and Orchestra (1977–78); Spring ofChosroes for Violin and Piano (1978); 2 string quartets: No. 1 (1979; N.Y., May 4, 1980) and No. 2 (Toronto, Dec. 4, 1983); Violin and Orchestra (1979; Hessian Radio, Frankfurt am Main, April 12, 1984); Principal Sound for Organ (1980); The Turfan Fragments for Chamber Orch. (1980; Swiss- Italian Radio, Lugano, March 26, 1981); Trio for Violin, Viola, and Piano (1980); Bass, Clarinet, and Percussion for Clarinet, Percussion, and Double Bass (1981; Middelburg, July 1, 1982); Triadic Memories for Piano (London, Oct. 5, 1981); Untitled Composition, later named Patterns in a Chromatic Field for Cello and Piano (1981; Middelburg, July 1982); For John Cage for Violin and Piano (N.Y., March 1982); 3 Voices for 3 Sopranos or 3 Solo Voices and Tape (1982; Valencia, Calif., March 1983); Clarinet and String Quartet (Newcastle upon Tyne, Oct. 9, 1983); Crippled Symmetry for Flute, Bass Flute, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Piano, and Celesta (1983; Berlin, March 1984); For Philip Guston for Flute, Alto Flute, Percussion, Piano, and Celesta (1984; Buffalo, April 21, 1985); For Bunita Marcus for Piano (Middelburg, June 1985); Violin and String Quartet (1985); Piano and String Quartet (Los Angeles, Nov. 2, 1985); Coptic Light for Orch. (N.Y., May 30, 1986); For Christian Wolff for Flute, Piano, and Celesta (Darmstadt, July 1986); For Stefan Wolpe for Chorus and 2 Vibraphones (1986; River Falls, Wise., April 30, 1987); Palais de Mari for Piano (N.Y., Nov. 20, 1986); Samuel Beckett, Words and Music for a radio play for 2 Flutes, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (N.Y., March 1987); Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello (Middelburg, July 4, 1987).

Bibliography

K. Potter, An Introduction to the Music ofM. F. (diss., Univ. of Wales, Cardiff, 1973); T. DeLio, Circumscribing the Open Universe: Essays on Cage, F., Wolff, Ashley and Lucier (Washington, D.C., 1984; 2nd ed., 1996); S. Josek, The New York School: Earle Brown, John Cage, M. E, Christian Wolff (Saarbriicken, 1998); C. Sebastian, Neither: Die Musik M. F. (Hofheim, 1999).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire