Though
Morton Feldman is best known these days for his large-scale late works, his early music, much of it predating his experiments with indeterminate notational systems, has remained relatively undiscovered. The appearance of this album is all the more to be celebrated for its inclusion of
Feldman's only extant tape composition, 1953's "Intersection" (a rowdy period-piece collage that gives little indication of the predominantly quiet music that was to follow) and the soundtrack for Hans Namuth's 1951 documentary on painter
Jackson Pollock (whose speaking voice also appears on tape). The five early "Nature Pieces" (also 1951) reveal the influence of
Feldman's study of dodecaphony with composer
Stefan Wolpe, while the "Variations" (of the same year), originally composed for a Merce Cunningham ballet, provide a clear indication that
Feldman's compositional trajectory was already markedly different from that of his "New York School" colleagues and mentors
John Cage,
Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. The performances by the Turfan Ensemble (especially pianist
Philipp Vandré) are exemplary, and the accompanying notes by Volker Straebel informative and precise. An indispensable release.