Quiet and expansive, Morton Feldman's Coptic Light isn't your typical classical CD. Performed by Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, these works by the late composer, atmospheric and tension-filled, are ready... more » to erupt at any moment. Classical music that moves at a snail's pace and sounds exciting? You bet. --Jason Verlinde« less
Quiet and expansive, Morton Feldman's Coptic Light isn't your typical classical CD. Performed by Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, these works by the late composer, atmospheric and tension-filled, are ready to erupt at any moment. Classical music that moves at a snail's pace and sounds exciting? You bet. --Jason Verlinde
CD Reviews
Simply beautiful, and an exquisite refinement of sound
Rachel Abbinanti (tusai1@aol.com) | Chicago | 07/27/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I doubt if Feldman heard much of his orchestral music during his lifetime, although he was a fine consummate craftsman,honing each chord, each sonority as if sculpted,drawn to the nuance,the emotive feel of a linear brushstroke. In fact it is ultimately all that is in the line, the line is like a signature, and can identify you for life. And Feldman thought of his music as a seemless flow, sound where its emanation cannot be detected;Simply there in space. "Piano and Orchestra" is not a concerto, that is furthest from the conceptual beauty of this piece, at least we should think so given Feldman's lifelong penchant for searching for new relations, new dimensions,new cross breeding of sonorities within the orchestral canvas. The piano here is like you've never heard it before,simple bell-like mildly dissonant,and preserving itself when it embarks onto its extreme register:when it has an entrance it is as a finely purified moment,surrounded by the precision of bare, thin,exposed and balanced orchestral sonorities. Feldman begins to give himself away around the center of the piece, with snarling expressionistic brass,and muted trumpets,around a menacing half step from Stravinsky's "Rite". But the piano always reaffirms the ongoing argument here, as well as the lower isolated tones in the harp. The odd tremoli or rolls from the barely perceptible bass drum was a stroke of genius. You may recall Webern's "Six Pieces"."Cello and Orchestra" is the same conceptual drawing from all registers of the versatile accomplice of the violoncello. And "Coptic Light" gleans itself from Feldman's lifelong study of textiles and rugs from the Middle East. He saw the colours as portraying the place where the rugs emanated from, as capturing with utmost fidelity their origin. Tilson Thomas has a committed bunch here in tackling Feldman's tireless beautiful music. His music is not much fun to play,counting numerous rests, and entering as if you are not even there,dovetailing always, a balancing act of orchestral discipline. I don't ever see this music entering standard repertoire,despite its profound musical scope. Thanks again."
Extremely quiet
catherine guelph | milano, italy | 09/04/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The music of Morton Feldman (1926-1987) can be frustrating to those who expect movement in time. I have found that this frame of mind opens the way to anxiety and tension. On the other hand, by listening to the sound as it is presented at the moment in time without expectation or anticipation, the music tends to release a transcendent quality. PIANO & ORCHESTRA and CELLO & ORCHESTRA are examples of this characteristic of Mr Feldman's music. Sounds are introduced which have a weak relationship to past and future. With the sound itself as its own goal, it surpasses knowledge and experience. I find this extremely unique and fascinating. COPTIC LIGHT accepts this approach, applying it to a more complex arrangement. The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. Also, it describes the distinctive art and architecture that developed as an early expression of the new faith.The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century, a dozen of years after the Lord's ascension. He was one of the four evangelists and the one who wrote the oldest canonical gospel. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival in Alexandria as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200 A.D., and a fragment of the Gospel of Saint John, written using the Coptic language, which was found in Upper Egypt and can be dated to the first half of the second century.(www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/)Regardless of your interest in spiritual matters, I find that thinking about these types of eternal questions fits well with the endless nature of this piece. If you are interested in American Composers of the late 20th Century, or in music which is contemplative, this CD will be interesting to you."
Great Introduction to Feldman
s_molman | CT United States | 12/07/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a great introduction CD to Feldman's art. The performances are superb, slightly edging out the cpo recordings and in better sound. Give it a chance and you will discover one of the finest composers of the late 20th century."
Getting lost in the moment
s_molman | 07/21/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Speaking from personal experience, Feldman's music is EXTREMELY difficult to perform effectively. Here, Tilson Thomas and the NWS present some of the best performances of Feldman's orchesral music ever recorded. My only reservations about this recording lie in its promotion and packaging; the pieces on this disc are touted as "premiere recordings," when in fact all three works were recorded on the German CPO label in the late 80s/early 90s. Sadly, this is one of the last releases on Decca's "Argo" sub-label, which has now been shut down after many fine years of service to contemporary music."
Crystals and Tapestries
Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 08/17/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Feldman is fast becoming an obsession with me. His extremely hieratic sound world challenges the listener to use differing ears to listen, ears that listen to each sound "in the moment" and not impose typical ideas of directionality and development so traditional in music of the west. The three pieces on this album are great introductions to this subtle composer. Piano and Orchestra is fast becoming my favorite Feldman piece. Written as part of a series of works for instruments and orchestra in the 70's, the work lives from moments to moment, consisting of soft discreet sounds separated by silences. Feldman's ear for instrumental sonority is unmatched. Ear sound is lush...dissonant and yet gorgeous, rather in the manner of Debussy or Messiaen. And the quiet dynamics increase the beauty of each sound. There is a sense of form, a series of chords played over and over by the pianist and echoed by the orchestral pianist create what is a recognizable "theme", is you can call such minimal material a theme. But the best way to listen to this music is to think of it as an object of sound, rather like a crystal with light coming through it. Static on the surface, but infinitely fascinating if you quiet down your own mind and just observe it. Cello and Orchestra is from the same series, though written earlier. I am less enamoured of this one, though I like it. I'm not sure what leaves me colder in it. Perhaps the sustained nature of the cello makes this piece a little more conventional than Piano and Orchestra, a little more like a concerto. It is nevertheless a beautiful work. The final work on the CD is Coptic Light. This is a stunning work from Feldman's late period, but with the virtue of being much shorter than most works from this time. (A true performance of Feldman's Second String Quartet would take 4 hours, but even the Kronos would not attempt that. They said they couldn't make it hang together.) Coptic Light, which gets it's name from a style of oriental carpet, is really rather like looking at one of those fascinating designs. Initially you only notice the symmetry in the pattern...as if the pieces was all one unchanging folding out of it's first bars. But a careful listening reveals that each pattern is constantly changing. Motives repeat with rhythmic variations, subtle changes in melodic material, and changes in the vertical arrangement, creating an infinately shifting tapestry. The work is haunting. The "_____ and Orchestra" series has been recorded on CPO by Hans Zender and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, so the claim on the recording that these are world premieres is wrong. (The CPO discs may actually be reissues of old Wergo CDs as well, as they were originally recorded in the 70's and have that "Wergo" look.But I may be wrong.) This recording of Piano and Orchestra is longer than the Zender recording and the indications in the score by about 5 minutes, but tempo aside, I'm unable to make a determination between the two versions. I like the way the Zender CD hangs together better, but I like the sound quality and the pianist better on this CD. Tilson Thomas does a wonderful job with this music. On the "Cello and Orchestra" recording Tilson Thomas is faster than Zender, and on this work I clearly prefer the European conductor. There is another available recording of Coptic Light as well, but I don't have it. Despite what one reviewer said here, on the page for that recording, there is alot of carping about the performance and the general consensus is that Tilson Thomas' version is better, so I am loath to invest the money to find out for myself, not when there is so much more Feldman out there to explore. Do yourself a favor, listen to this CD...perhaps borrow it from a friend first (Feldman is an aquired taste I think. I wouldn't have gotten him ten years ago.) Listen with attention, but not concentration, rather like a musically guided meditation. Only then do you start to get where Feldman is trying to take you."
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1