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Morton Feldman - Early and Unknown Piano Works
Morton Feldman - Early and Unknown Piano Works
Debora Petrina
OgreOgress
We’ve all heard recordings described as being “for completists only.” Well, this OgreOgress issue of hitherto unrecorded piano music of Morton Feldman is a paradigm case of such a project. Three of the six works here are performances of early, unpublished manuscripts, and only one of the offerings is a substantial, mature piece. Unfortunately, even that one, “Two Pieces for Three Pianos” (1966) is, based on this recording at least, not among Feldman’s better works. The “First Piano Sonata” is dedicated to Bartok, but it sounds a bit more like an early Schoenberg work, albeit more episodic and laden with breast-beating than the future Austrian renegade would have put together, even at fin de siecle. The other two pieces from the mid-forties, “Preludio” and “Self-Portrait” are folksier(!) and a bit less Scriabinesque, but all three of these works are not only immature, they represent a sort of innocent romanticism of a type that Feldman would soon strongly react against. There’s a bit of both Bach and Copland in the pretty, if slight, “Preludio,” while “Self-Portrait” veers, though somewhat awkwardly, toward a more mature New Viennese approach. This 3:46 piece seems like the toughest of the lot to play, and it briefly gets away from Ms. Petrina in a couple of places. The “Three Dances,” written for a solo dancer in 1950, are in a more recognizable Feldmanian pointillism and are enjoyable. They are, however, only about seven minutes in total duration, and are not really substantial enough to stand as an independent instrumental work—at least not as a memorable one. Interestingly, the third dance requires the pianist to play a drum and a glass with her right hand: it’s a cute effect. “For Cynthia” is a 40-second ditty, presumably written on a dinner napkin. As indicated above, the big piece here is “Two Pieces for Three Pianos,” which Petrina handles alone with the help of overdubbing. The three piano parts are not consistent in their method of specifying durations, which one would expect to produce some interesting rhythmic results. Here, however, there is very little but homophony. For most of its thirty-five minutes, we are basically treated to a lethargic display of chord—pause—chord, delivered in a manner that would make it hard for any blindfolded listener to tell that more than one piano is being utilized (though such a one might guess the pianist is being more than usually liberal with his/her damper pedal). The echoing effects one would anticipate from a live performance are almost completely absent in this version. What’s worse, the glimpses of eternity that often emanate from a single chord in the best Feldman pieces and performances (check out the recent Tilbury 4-disc set on London Hall for a couple thousand examples) just don’t materialize here. Veniero Rizzardi’s (quite difficult to read) liner notes to the Petrina disc describe “Two Pieces” as a masterpiece. If it is, one would be hard-pressed to prove it from this plodding rendering. In my view, a much better introduction to Feldman’s wonderful output for multiple pianos is the old Columbia/Odyssey “The Early Years” LP, which contains three such works from the mid-fifties: if you can find one of these records around somewhere, snatch it up! (And pick up one for me too—mine’s all scratchy.) In the meantime, I suggest that Feldmaniacs feed any longings they have for new releases by immediately purchasing the marvelous Fong/Rangtzen Quartet performance of “Violin and String Quartet,” also recently released by OgreOgress.
~Walter Horn
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Points of Interest
For earlyish Feldman piano (1950-64, the recent hat release with Steffen Schliermacher at the keys is super.
I wasn’t as hard on Petrina as you, Walt. I do think it’s a bit daft playing all three parts yourself (there’s apparently a bloke somewhere who can play both percussion parts of the Bartok Sonata for 2 pianos & Percussion at once.. I remember some wag commenting that he might as well play both the pianos too with his toes): the whole point of a piece for three pianos is the interaction between three pianists (witness the Emanem Tilbury / Riley / Tippett outing as an example of what can happen..). If Petrina’s version sounds a bit flat, I suggest it’s because of this. A lot of mid 60s MF has that sound surface, though - think it comes from the “hit & hang” notation. Anyway, this is what appeared on that in Paris Transatlantic: “Pianist Debora Petrina plays all three parts herself, and also makes some astute if not very original observations on the vagaries of Feldman’s notation. Describing the work as a masterpiece, however (as does Veniero Rizzardi in his liners), is pushing it a bit, but it’s certainly good to see it out and about. Feldman completists, poor penniless wretches that they are, won’t want to do without it.”
As for the early works, “surely this music’s apparent unwillingness to develop its ideas – Feldman acknowledges as much himself – was more a reflection of teenage fervour and reluctance to submit to discipline than it was a sign of the composer’s stubborn originality, which only emerged several years later.”
I wish labels would leave the juvenilia alone. There’s always someone who thinks they know better than the composer.
Seems like you and I are on pretty much the same wavelength on this one, Dan.
My main problem with the three piano piece is that it’s BORING–whether it’s Petrina’s fault or not, I’m not sure. But good Feldman pieces/performances are never dull. This recording is further proof (if any more is needed) that slow and sparse doesn’t always spell deep.