Feldman For Bunita Marcus; Palais de Mari

Radical Feldman finds an inspired interpreter in this Munich-based pianist

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Morton Feldman

Genre:

Instrumental

Label: Oehms

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 114

Mastering:

Stereo
DDD

Catalogue Number: OC594

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
For Bunita Marcus Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer
Sabine Liebner, Piano
Palais de Mari, 'for Francesco Clemente' Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer
Sabine Liebner, Piano
For Bunita Marcus is the archetypal Feldman piano piece. From a sparse opening, the composition evolves into a thriving complex of canonic structures, as page after page juxtaposes and re-contextualises the melodic possibilities of three notes. The work climaxes in a jubilant dancelike section (not that you could actually dance to it, you understand), after which Feldman winds the music down to a motionless end-point that pushes beyond the extremes of his introductory material. The whole process takes almost 90 minutes, and the work is as radical a look at counterpoint as any composer has attempted since Papa Bach’s day.

Two trailblazing recordings – Hildegard Kleeb (hatART) and John Tilbury (LondonHALL) – were for decades the blueprints by which Feldmanistas swore. But with Kleeb now deleted and Tilbury’s expensive complete Feldman set not easy to find, Sabine Liebner’s new version is very welcome. Her 2005 recording of Feldman’s Triadic Memories dealt with its thorny challenges masterfully, and her For Bunita Marcus is consistently inspired throughout. She plays with immense control and her steely objective viewpoint allows the tactical contradiction of the piece to communicate itself clearly: Feldman is constructing his gnarly, patchwork structure from refrains that have nursery-rhyme transparency.

It was Bunita Marcus herself, a Feldman composition pupil and pianist, who commissioned Palais de Mari in 1986. With its near-30?minute duration – a miniature by Feldman standards – this has become his most recorded piano work, but Liebner’s ethereal touch and the relentless measure of her pacing demands to be heard, even if you already own Aki Takahashi’s authoritative interpretation on Mode.

Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.

Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.

Gramophone Print

  • Print Edition

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Digital Club

  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive
  • Reviews Database
  • Events & Offers

From £9.20 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Reviews

  • Reviews Database

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

Gramophone Digital Edition

  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive

From £6.87 / month

Subscribe

                              

If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.