Morton Feldman

CD version. The expansive length of Morton Feldman’s Trio (1 hr., 45 min., 22 sec.) requires a new approach to listening, which takes scale, the physical experience of sound, and novel uses of musical memory into consideration. With his delicate manipulation of musical materials, Feldman blurs the listener’s sense of time as their musical memory struggles to distinguish between past and present sounds - listeners are free to lose themselves in the beauty of each musical moment.

Aki Takahashi and Rohan de Saram (formerly of the Arditti Quartet) both worked closely with Feldman. Marc Sabat is among today’s great Feldman interpreters, having recorded Feldman’s complete music for violin & piano on Mode.

Original recording in superb 96khz, 24-bit sonics. Two very distinct mixes were made for the surround and stereo versions. The natural reflected hall sound - which would typically be in the rear surround speakers - is not very dramatic because of the basically quiet nature of the Trio. Instead, for the surround mix, we chose to place the listener in an intimate perspective with the musicians: directly between the violin and the cello, with the piano in front. For the stereo mix, the violin and piano are clearly separated left and right to accentuate their interplay. Feldman’s use of extended string techniques can blur the timbral separation between cello and violin, creating unified sonic events exploring the qualities and possibilities of the combination of instruments - for example, utilizing the resonance of the piano and the sustaining qualities and dynamic control of the strings. These subtle nuances are brought out by the detail of the recording.

Detailed essay on the work by Sabine Feisst included in the booklet.

Aki Takahashi, piano
Marc Sabat, violin
Rohan de Saram, cello