Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

Featuring

Andreas Seidel
Dorothea Hemken
Christian Giger
Steffen Schleiermacher
Ensemble Avantgarde
Morton Feldman

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Compositional Technique

In "Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello," Morton Feldman uses a technique similar to the subtle color variations in nomadic rugs, with instruments operating in a narrow tonal space and notes exchanged within chords.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Morton Feldman's compositional approach was influenced by nomadic Anatolian rugs, particularly their irregularities, recurring motifs, and subtle color variations.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Morton Feldman believed that the longer a piece lasted, the fewer musical ideas it should contain, allowing ideas space to unfold and be remembered.

Interpretation

Listening to Morton Feldman's music requires great serenity and a sense of infinite time, as it lacks climaxes, melodies, or surprises, instead emerging from and returning to silence.

Performer Biography

Ensemble Avantgarde, led by pianist and composer Steffen Schleiermacher, is a group of Leipzig musicians dedicated to 20th and 21st-century music, with members from the Gewandhaus Orchestra and MDR Symphony Orchestra.

Compositional Technique

The string instruments in this work play with mutes and no vibrato, always as a group, creating a monolithic yet subtly varied sound through exchanged notes and flageolet tones.

Composition History

Morton Feldman's "Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello" (1987) is his last completed composition, though at around 80 minutes, it is considered rather short by his standards.