Soul Strings

During the late romantic period, a technique of composition which had been differentiated and refined over centuries was taken to its limits. Intervals and chord combinations had previously been associated with specific meaning, but now composers strove for an expression which grew more and more concrete, and music served a poetic programme, as exemplified in the tone poems of Leoš Janáček or Richard Strauss. The contrast with Morton Feldman could hardly be greater, but at the same time it could hardly be more telling. Feldman pointedly placed himself outside this tradition. His interest was in abstract sound, never in concrete expressivity. His compositions for viola exemplify this approach. There is no tone here which is subjugate to the hierarchy of an overall context or points beyond itself in thematic anticipation or backwards reference. This music is merely a softly flowing texture of sound, not tailored to a specific form or duration. Indeed, it derives its profound tension from the strictness with which it remains in the moment.

Das Konzert im Radio: Donnerstag, 16.06.2022, WDR3 Konzert, 20:04