3/1

Listening this week focused on Morton Feldman. His work struck me as bland, unfeeling, and pointless. Listening to the King of Denmark, I begun with a performance by Shawn Savageau. While listening, I found it to be interesting, but a little dull, I didn't quite understand it. Upon further investigation, I discovered that it was a piece written in graphic notation. I thought "no wonder this is difficult to grasp, it is played on an individual basis." I took it upon myself to listen to another recording, this time by Vitaly Medvedev. In this case, I had the same reaction. Except this time, I didn't think it was due to my misunderstanding, I became a little irritated, and went to look up the piece myself. I discovered this:

 

Investigation of Feldman revealed his music lies in the realm of the soft, contemplative, and often (to quote wikipedia) "a generally quiet and slowly evolving music, with recurring asymmetric patterns." My reaction became even more visceral. What patterns?? Where is anything repeated in this nonsense? It got me to the point of aggravation. Any piece, yes, ANY piece of music without dynamic change is dead in the water, no matter the form. Listening and re-listening to The King of Denmark got me nowhere, it never evolves, never grows, and never changes dynamic or mood. 

However, in order to keep an open mind, I continued my listening. I proceeded to involve myself with Piece for Four Pianos. It was still soft, textural, peaceful even, if a little obtuse. I found myself asking, "is this supposed to be mood music?" What kind of mood is this supposed to convey? Anger, irritation, it NEVER GOES ANYWHERE. These patterns are bland, not evolving, it is stagnant, dead in the water. Where does one hear evolution in this? Bland, dull, stoic. Feldman's music must lie somewhere between elevator music and white noise. It is boring. 

My reaction, however, was more like this out of the lack of motion that was gained through listening to Feldman.

Listening to his Rothko Chapel I felt the same. Here I was, putting forth an extreme effort to try and like it, and gaining nothing but frustration. After getting through Rothko Chapel, I let go, and did not, in fact, notice when it ended. I did not enjoy this music, to say the least. 

After talking with some folks about it, I wonder if it wasn't simply that I was not in the proper mood for the music. It may be worth revisiting sometime, but not until this notion dissipates somewhat.