About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Or so the old Zen conundrum goes. Morton Feldman's music brings such riddles to mind, though it suggests the sound of the uninhabited forest rather than that of the falling tree. Unperturbedly quiet and comprised of only the barest of musical ideas, his pieces seem to have no beginning, no middle, and no end. A lifelong New Yorker, Feldman became part of John Cage's avant-garde circle. He followed his own lonely path, however, composing music that consistently avoided any dogma. Neglected by the musical establishment, it was only after his death in 1987 that Feldman's work attracted many advocates. Now he's something of a cult figure. Pianist Aki Takahashi and the new music gurus of the Kronos Quartet were among the few who had been followers from early on. In fact, the Piano and String Quartet (1985) was written expressly for them. This is Feldman at his purest and best: an ebb and flow of notes repeated with subtle variations creating a sense of timelessness where combinations of tones exist only for their beauty. It's like an 80-minute long exhalation. Play it at low volume in a dimly lighted room and let the sounds seep into your being. Om. Andrew Farach-Colton, Barnes & Noble

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