Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston

Morton Feldman (Composer), California EAR Unit (Performer), Gloria Cheng (Performer), Gloria Cheng-Cochran (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: California EAR Unit, Gloria Cheng, Gloria Cheng-Cochran
• Composer: Morton Feldman
• Audio CD (November 18, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Label: Bridge
• ASIN: B000003GK0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,415 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Philip Guston, May 4, 2001

By 

"esho2" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston (Audio CD)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic!, September 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston (Audio CD)

Of all the pieces that Feldman wrote for Flute, Piano, and/or mallet percussion, this is the recording and performance to get. I prefer this ensemble to the ones on the Hat Art label, although some of them are good too.

The piece is magic. It is evocative of underwater images of slowly undulating objects, flowing movements at different speeds, yet very peaceful. Everything has natural movements, they just take their course.

This has been a piece I have never stopped returning to.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Feldman., January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston (Audio CD)

This recording offers the most honest and skilled approach to this piece that I have ever heard. This music really reflects Guston's visual aesthetic--in a way that only Feldman could understand.