Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett

Morton Feldman (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cpo Records
• ASIN: B00003Q07Z
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,681 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. For Samuel Becket

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hermetically Sealed World, November 20, 2002

By 

Christopher Forbes "weirdears" (Brooklyn,, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett (Audio CD)

Feldman's late works are really entities rather than compositions. They are closed worlds, sealed off by their limited means and extraordinaty length. But For Samuel Becket is one of the more extreme of these pieces, not in length but in character. The work is close, almost claustrophobic and yet deeply alluring. It is rare in Feldman's output, closer to Coptic Light than to any other Feldman work that I know.

The work is scored for solo strings, winds and brass in pairs and a small Feldmanesque group of piano, mallet instruments and celeste. The winds and strings create sustained sound clusters while the small group contributes small splashes of dissonant color chords. The basic material of the piece is set up at the beginning of the work and doesn't vary greatly throughout it's 40 plus minutes. Small variations in chords, rhythmic placement, tonal color and pattern make the interest in the piece. It is in Feldman's "oriental carpet" mode, in which the surface effect is static and symmetrical, but a closer listening reveals a wealth of subtle variations on a level just below the surface. This work will not reveal itself in casual listening. It requires a deeper concentration on the part of the listener, just as the work of Rothko or Clifford Still require a greater active role on the part of the viewer. Also unlike much music by Feldman, this work does not contain much silence. It is a close and crowded score, and when brief moments of silence are detected it is like a wisp of air from a crack in a window. This fits the dedication to Becket, who used silence, repetition and a certain hysterical claustrophobia in his writing to make his existential points.

I have not heard the competition for this disc so I can't make much of a comparison based on that. The timing on this CPO disc is about 10 minutes faster than the Kairos disc. Timing is everything in Feldman, so you may find that the Kairos disc has less of a claustrophbic feel. This all may be a matter of preference, as Feldman allows a wide range of tempi in this work, between 66 and 88 MM. CPO takes the fast edge of this and Kairos takes the slow edge. Both are sanctioned by Feldman's score.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good choice, April 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett (Audio CD)

Any difference between this interpretation of "For Samuel Beckett" and the Ensemble Modern's version (HatART 6107) is for my unprofessional ears virtually inaudible, except that the sound quality is much, much better in the present CD. However, my personal preference is for the Klangforum Wien's rendering (KAIROS #0012012KAI; it should get "six stars" by comparison), which is about 10 minutes longer and that permits to discriminate very delicate details of this most beautiful piece.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peacefully, richly dissonant, September 9, 2000

By 

Michael Laird (Pittsford, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett (Audio CD)

Imagine being in a wooded glade with filtered sunlight speckles that move, combine and overlap as gentle breezes move some branches overhead. The view slowly changes as the light, wind, temperature change, but it is all very gradual. This is a visual metaphor of For Samuel Beckett. Sonically, it stands out with smoothly blended woodwinds and horns, filled in with strings and chimes. It is deep and sonorous, but always calmly dissonant. There are constant changes, some of which are barely perceptible. This album is recorded with excellent acoustics and tone qualities. The sound is always peacefully, richly dissonant - calming. For me, this is one of Feldman's best pieces because it is long enough to get immersed into it and perceive it deeply, but it is not one of his 4 hour pieces that stretch one's endurance.