Morton Feldman, The Smith Quartet, John Tilbury

At its best Feldman's music can take our breath away, providing a revelatory experience, a transparency which has no need of argument. Thinking back to Piano and String Quartet there are moments of extraordinary beauty when, through a sudden change of register, darkness enshrouds the music; elsewhere the string sound enshrouds the piano arpeggios. Morton Feldman seems to occupy a metaphysical space and encroaches on the domain of spirituality normally associated with religion. Thus art wrests spirituality from religion; spirituality is not the private property of religion. Perhaps with Feldman one can make a case for a kind of musical utopianism. One cannot play this music in a merely professional capacity."-John Tilbury

"The 3rd and final volume of all the works written for Piano and Strings by Feldman, recorded live at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2006. Featured works include "Spring of Chosroes" (violin and piano), "The Viola in My Life" (viola and piano) and "Trio", the mesmerising work for violin, cello and piano. Recorded and produced by Sebastian Lexer, this volume celebrates almost 10 extraordinary years of collaboration."-Smith Quartet website

"Now into its third decade the Smith Quartet remains at the leading edge of the new music world. It has championed the works of the worldÕs most celebrated composers, commissioning over 200 new pieces with recent works from Michael Nyman, Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy, Joe Cutler, Tunde Jegede, Gabriel Prokofiev and the late Jon Lord. In 2015 the quartet gave the world premiere of Graham Fitkins new work Distil at the Cheltenham Festival as part of a collaborative project with percussionist Joby Burgess. The work went on to receive the RPS chamber music prize for best chamber composition. The group has not only collaborated with eminent classical musicians such as Burgess, pianist John Tilbury and guitarist David Tanenbaum but also with a diverse array of artists from other disciplines including rock group Pulp, Malian singer Rokia TraorŽ, jazz musicians John Taylor and Django Bates and dance companies Shobana Jeyasingh, Siobhan Davies and Ultima Vez."-Smith Quartet website

DVD PAL Audio, region free. Requires a computer with a DVD or DVD player that accepts PAL discs. Liner notes by John Tilbury, an extensive reflection on Feldman's music.