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For Stefan Wolpe (1986)
For Stefan Wolpe is among Feldman's last works, and one of many dedicated to composers, painters, and writers he admired. Written for chorus and two vibraphones, the work alternates between choral sonorities and instrumental passages, creating a series of refrains which at first seem like simple repetitions, but which in fact change and expand gradually over the piece's thirty minutes. Described by Feldman as "crippled symmetry," this technique was inspired by the slight alterations in repeating patterns he observed in oriental carpets.
The music of Morton Feldman (1926-1987) progressed through several stages of development in the composer's efforts to achieve flexibility in performance and purity of sound. In the 1950's and 1960's he experimented with graph and other forms of notation which provided varying degrees of freedom to the performer. As Feldman gradually returned to conventional notation (by the 1970's), his music grew to display the traits by which it is most recognizable: soft dynamics, uncoordinated instrumental parts, and extremely long piece lengths. He also increasingly used consonance and small- and medium-scale repetitions in his pieces, paralleling developments in minimalist music of the time.
Feldman was born and raised in New York, studying piano during his teenage years with Madame Maurina-Press. From 1941 onward he studied composition with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe, but it was his meeting with John Cage in 1950 that was essential to the formation of his compositional style. He was associated in the 1950's with many New York artists including pianist David Tudor, composers Earle Brown and Christian Wolff, and abstract expressionist painters Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1972 the State University of New York at Buffalo asked Feldman to join its faculty as Edgard Varèse Professor, a post he held for the rest of his life. In June 1987 he married the composer Barbara Monk; the following September he died at his home in Buffalo. Feldman's music has been recorded on many major labels as well as Bridge, Col Legno, Cp2, CRI, Etcetera, Hat Hut, Mode, and New Albion.
related websites
http://www.cnvill.demon.co.uk/mfhome.htm
Benjamin Ramirez currently performs as principal timpanist for the Columbus Symphony in Ohio. Previous engagements include the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Haven Symphony in Connecticut, and New York Chamber Ensemble, as well as orchestras in San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis. During the summer season Ramirez is based at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, where he performs with the Boston Symphony and teaches at the Tanglewood Institute's Percussion Workshop. Ramirez studied percussion at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Indiana University, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Percussionist Thomas Kolor has performed internationally with the Talujon Percussion Quartet, Ensemble Sospeso, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, and Ensemble 21. He is a frequent guest with many New York-based new music groups, including the Group for Contemporary Music, Speculum Musicae, Da Capo Chamber Players, Newband, and New Millennium Ensemble,. A specialist in contemporary music, Kolor has premiered a number of works including Milton Babbitt's Beaten Paths for solo marimba, which he recorded on Koch International Classics. Other recordings may be found on the Capstone, CRI, Mode, Naxos, New World, and RCA Classics labels. Kolor originally studied at William Paterson College in New Jersey and the Juilliard School of Music.
The Choir of Saint Ignatius of Antioch is based in an Anglo-Catholic parish in the center of New York City which dates back to 1871. Comprised entirely of professional singers, the choir's extensive repertoire ranges from medieval plainchant to twentieth-century works by Igor Stravinsky and Charles Wuorinen.
related websites
http://www.saintignatiusnyc.org/index.html
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