Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman was a music maker. He lived in New York. He liked to make very quiet music. His songs moved very slowly.

He used new ways to write music. He used grids to show notes. This helped him make a special sound. He also liked bright paintings.

Later, his music became very long. Some songs lasted for many hours. He loved soft sounds. He wanted to clean everything away with music. It is a special way to listen.

Morton Feldman was a famous music maker from America. He was born in New York in 1926. He lived in a world of new ideas. He was part of the New York School. This was a group of artists who tried new things. He was close friends with a man named John Cage.

Feldman made music that sounded very special. His songs often felt like they were floating. They were very quiet and moved slowly. He used new ways to write his music. Sometimes he used grids in his scores. He did not always pick every note. This let the music be a bit of a surprise.

He also loved art. He looked at abstract paintings for ideas. He even wrote music for a special building called the Rothko Chapel.

Later in his life, his music became very long. Some pieces lasted for many hours! One piece for a string quartet was over six hours long. He loved soft sounds more than loud ones. He wanted his music to clean everything away. Feldman died in 1987. His music still makes people think and wonder.

Morton Feldman was a famous American composer of classical music. He was a major part of the 20th-century music world. He belonged to a group called the New York School. This group included other famous composers like John Cage and Christian Wolff. Feldman was known for a style called indeterminacy. This means that some parts of the music could be left to chance. His music often sounds like it is floating or drifting. It is usually very quiet and moves at a slow pace. He used patterns that did not always repeat in a simple way.

Feldman had a very special way of writing his music. He used new kinds of musical notation, which is the system of symbols used to write music. Instead of standard lines, he often used grids in his scores. He would sometimes say how many notes to play at a certain time. However, he might not pick exactly which notes they should be. This allowed the music to have a unique, soft feeling. In 1970, his style changed in a big way. He moved away from these loose systems toward more precise rhythms. His first piece in this new style was called "Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety."

Feldman's life began in Woodside, Queens, in New York City. He was born on January 12, 1926. His parents, Irving and Frances Feldman, were Russian Jews. They had moved to New York from Pereiaslav and Bobruysk. As a young boy, Feldman studied the piano with a teacher named Vera Maurina Press. Later, he studied composition with teachers like Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe. Feldman and Wolpe spent much of their time talking about art. This helped shape his deep love for many different kinds of creativity.

Many important people and places were part of Feldman's world. In 1950, he met John Cage at a concert. They became close friends very quickly. Through Cage, Feldman met many famous artists. He met the painter Jackson Pollock and the sculptor Richard Lippold. He even wrote music for the Rothko Chapel in 1971. In 1973, he became a professor at the University at Buffalo. He lived and worked in New York for much of his life. He died of pancreatic cancer on September 3, 1987.

Feldman's music connects to many other types of art. He found great inspiration in abstract expressionist painting. This is a style of art that uses shapes and colors to show feelings. He also worked with writers, such as Samuel Beckett. In 1977, Feldman wrote an opera called Neither using Beckett's text. Toward the end of his life, he wrote incredibly long pieces. One piece for a string quartet lasted over six hours without a break. He loved quiet sounds and wanted music to feel very calm. He hoped his music could help clean everything away.

Morton Feldman was a central figure in 20th-century classical music. He was an American composer known for his experimental approach to sound. Feldman was a key member of the New York School. This group included other famous composers like John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. Feldman is most recognized for his work with indeterminacy. Indeterminacy is a method where some elements of a musical performance are left to chance. This approach challenged the traditional ways music was composed and played. His work helped change how people thought about musical structure and time.

Feldman developed unique methods to create his specific musical sound. He used nonstandard musical notation, which is the system of symbols used to write music. Instead of traditional lines, he often used grids in his scores. These grids allowed him to specify how many notes should be played at a certain time. However, he would not always decide exactly which notes those would be. This created rhythms that felt free and floating. His music often featured pitch shadings that seemed softly unfocused. He also used recurring asymmetric patterns, which are patterns that do not repeat in a predictable way.

His musical style underwent a major transformation during his career. In his early years, he focused on these graphic and arhythmic notation systems. This allowed for a high degree of experimental freedom. However, his music changed radically in 1970. He moved away from those loose systems toward rhythmic precision. The first piece of this new period was a short work titled "Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety." This piece was dedicated to his childhood piano teacher, Vera Maurina Press. After 1977, his compositions also began to explore extremes of duration, meaning they became much longer.

Feldman's life and musical interests began in New York City. He was born on January 12, 1926, in Woodside, Queens. His parents, Irving and Frances Feldman, were Russian Jews. They had emigrated from Pereiaslav and Bobruysk. As a child, Feldman studied piano with Vera Maurina Press. He later studied composition with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe. Feldman and Wolpe spent much of their time discussing both music and art. This deep connection to the visual arts would influence his compositions for many years.

In 1950, a chance meeting changed the course of Feldman's life. He attended a concert by the New York Philharmonic. He was disturbed by how the audience reacted to a piece by Anton Webern. He left the hall and met John Cage in the lobby. The two men became close friends immediately. Through Cage, Feldman entered the vibrant New York arts scene. He met famous figures like the painter Jackson Pollock and the sculptor Richard Lippold. He also met artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Frank O'Hara. These connections helped shape his unique artistic perspective.

Feldman's music is often noted for its incredible length and quietness. In his later career, he produced works that were rarely shorter than thirty minutes. Some pieces were much longer and required great endurance from the performers. For example, "Violin and String Quartet" from 1985 lasts around two hours. "For Philip Guston," written in 1984, lasts approximately four hours. His work "String Quartet II," from 1983, lasts over six hours without a break. These pieces usually maintain a very quiet dynamic range, which refers to the volume of the music. Feldman stated that quiet sounds were the only ones that interested him later in life.

Feldman's work connects deeply to other creative fields. He found significant inspiration in abstract expressionist painting. This connection is seen in his 1971 piece "Rothko Chapel," written for a building that houses paintings by Mark Rothko. He also collaborated with writers. In 1977, he composed an opera titled "Neither" using a text by Samuel Beckett. Feldman eventually moved into academia to share his knowledge. In 1973, he became the Edgard Varèse Professor of Music Composition at the University at Buffalo. He died of pancreatic cancer on September 3, 1987, in Buffalo, New York.