Piece for Four Pianos

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Piece for Four Pianos
by Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
ComposedApril 30, 1957
Performed1957, New York City
Published1962 (1962):
ScoringFour pianos

Piece for Four Pianos is a musical composition for four

pianos by American composer Morton Feldman
. It was finished in 1957.

Background

Feldman's Piece for Four Pianos was first conceived as a result of the composer's fascination with the

C. F. Peters in 1962.[4][5]

Structure

Piece for Four Pianos is a single-movement composition scored for four pianos reading the same sheet of music.[5][6] Its duration may vary widely, since Feldman specifies in the score that all beats are meant to be played slowly but not necessarily simultaneously—that is, each performer has its own internal speed, which may be different from the rest.[5][6][7] However, most performances tend to be about 7 to 8 minutes long. As other early works by Feldman, this piece is meant to have an echo-like or reverberant quality.[8] Feldman attempted to remove what he believe to be a supposed virtue of traditional ensemble playing, stating that "It works better if [the players] don't listen [to each other]."[9] He then stated that the result should be "like a series of reverberations from an identical sound source" and that "the beginning of the piece is like a recognition, not a motif, and by virtue of the repetitions it conditions one to listen."[10]

The original score is one page, five

measure division, time signature, key signature, and tempo markings.[5][11] Feldman provides no indications as to how the notes written in the score can be read, which gives performers some space for artistic freedom. Even though there are no explicit dynamic markings present in the score, Feldman specifies that the piece has to be played with low dynamics with a minimum of attack. Despite the fact that the piece has no measures, players are expected to count beats, as fermatas, grace notes and silent beats are present and common in the piece.[5][16]

Reception

In January 1960, music critic Alfred Frankenstein wrote on High Fidelity magazine that "although [Feldman denied] that his Piece for Four Pianos has anything to do with Webern's pointillism, the effect of [Feldman's] works is eminently Webernian" and "the final result is to compact hours into seconds with an almost overwhelming intensity and depth of feeling".[1] English composer Cornelius Cardew, who would later work with Feldman and premiere some of his works, also wrote that "possibly because it has been played so much, this piece has acquired a venerable quality; the notes themselves have an air of immutability, as though they were pre-determined in some non-human sphere, possibly by the instruments for which they were written."[1] Maurice Hinson wrote that "it is possible that Feldman's work was designed to reattract audiences largely put off by an extreme mathematical approach to music", and the piece contains "delicate textures and sonorities".[17]

The sounds follow one another in a slow, elastic chain. There are no loud sounds. All pianists have the same sequence of sounds to play, but in playing them they drift apart, each taking his own time, so that the reverberations of the same sound amongst the four pianos are often widely separated in time. But by sometimes having the same sound repeated several times by each pianist individually, Feldman manages to create areas, like plains, where the four pianos come together again, or are at least able to locate each other in the distance.

— Cornelius Cardew.[1]

Recordings

The piece remains a popular experiment for chamber pianists to this day. Here is a list of recordings of Piece for Four Pianos:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Liner notes of Odyssey 32 16 0302 – Morton Feldman – The Early Years. New York: Odyssey. 1968.
  2. ISBN 978-1-316-56521-6
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  3. ISBN 978-0-521-01501-1
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Piece for Four Pianos (1957), Morton Feldman" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM.
  5. ^
    C. F. Peters
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  6. ^
    AllMusic
  7. ISBN 978-1-351-03152-3
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  8. ISBN 9780935016161
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  9. ISBN 978-0-8108-2710-3
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  10. ISBN 978-0-521-65383-1
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Peters, Rainer (2009). Liner notes of WERGO WER 6708 2. Mainz: WERGO.
  12. ISBN 978-0-8195-7298-1
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  13. ISBN 978-0-19-522274-6
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  14. ^ O'Hara, Frank (1959). Liner notes of Columbia Masterworks ML 5403 — Morton Feldman – New Directions in Music 2. Columbia Masterworks.
  15. ISBN 978-0-19-535478-2
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  16. ISBN 978-0-520-23305-8
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  17. ISBN 978-0-253-11306-1
    . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  18. ^ Liner notes of Auditorium Edizioni AUD 01 1303. Auditorium Edizioni. 2003.
  19. ^ Minimal Piano Collection, Vol. X–XX. Utrecht: Brilliant Classics. 2010.
  20. ^ "Edgard Varèse: Amériques / Morton Feldman: Piece for Four Pianos / Five Pianos". Schott Music. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
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