Morton Feldman

"Two first recordings of Morton Feldman's music in themselves make this CD a notable event. And then, David Felder's music puts it over the line. The music bridges two generations and two distinct personalities. Feldman, with John Cage, Earle Brown, David Tudor, and Christian Wolff, was a seminal member of the New York School in the 1950s, and his work is known for the beauty and delicacy of its orchestral colors, its 'painterly' surface, its static and quiet structure, its contemplative character. Felder's work, on the other hand, is dramatic and powerful, with giant pulsing blocks of orchestral sound lending a strong sense of motion and force which is contrasted with soft poetic moments. The two composers are linked by their association with the June in Buffalo Festival, founded by Feldman in 1975 and directed by Felder since 1985. The compositions are Morton Feldman's 'The Viola in My Life IV' (1971) and 'Instruments II' (1975); and David Felder's 'Coleccion Nocturna' (1984) and 'In Between' (1999). The performances, recorded at the 2000 June in Buffalo Festival, are by the June in Buffalo Festival Orchestra, conducted by Harvey Sollberger and Jan Williams. The soloists are Daniel Druckman (percussion), Jesse Levine (viola), Jean Kopperud (clarinets), and James Winn (piano)."