Output details

Music for Piano and Strings by Morton Feldman. 2x DVD recordings of music for string quartet. Smith Quartet. Nic Pendlebury (viola).

This practice-led research output represents the culmination of an extensive collaborative exploration into Morton Feldman’s complete works for Piano and Strings by the Smith Quartet, together with pianist and renowned Feldman expert John Tilbury. Recorded live at the Huddersfield festival, the three albums provide a unique insight into this rarely played and heard repertoire and serve as the only complete documentation. Of particular importance to our performances were the issues of sonority, texture, dynamics, articulation and duration (many works are routinely 80 minutes long and require musical stamina). In his writings Feldman advises his string players to use leather mutes and loose hair on the bow to assist with the often extreme low dynamic range, much of which lies in the realm of triple piano ('ppp'). After much experimentation the quartet decided to substitute the leather mutes with the more readily available plastic 'practice' mutes which produce a similar delicate ethereal sonority and rather than loosening hair (which effects control of the bow), to use baroque bows which are lighter than the conventional classical bows and minimize the attack, softening the overall texture. The lightness of these bows also helped physically with the longevity of the works and their arc-like shape lends well to the melodic and harmonic contours of the writing. It was also considered that a vibratoless approach would result in a musical purity more akin to Feldman’s intentions and also match the clean sonority of the piano. The recordings are presented on audio DVD which allows Feldman’s musical canvases to be heard as unbroken spans. The three volumes are on general release through Matchless Recordings and have been enthusiastically received by the national press. The performances themselves were shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Awards.

The submission contains a duration of material that is double that of the other items submitted, which are single CD recordings. In addition, the length and variety of material on the two submitted DVD's necessitated a much more lengthy research and rehearsal period than was normal for the Smith Quartet. As outlined in 'Additional Information', this research process was characterized by a lengthy period of active studio time. This had as its aim the solution of several key problems regarding the choice of appropriate instrumental techniques for the successful performance and recording of the music in question.