Feldman: Violin and Orchestra

Morton Feldman Violin and Orchestra
    
Artist: Carolin Widmann, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emilio Pomárico, Morton Feldman
Genre: Classical
Label: ECM New Series

Morton Feldman's 1979 Violin and Orchestra is altogether too introverted to be thought of as a concerto. The music's world is one of micro-gestures. The violin scrabbles or strains quietly, the orchestra sighs, rumbles, whistles and tinkles, creating pools of fascinatingly unorthodox sonority, often through what you might call deviant intonation. There is almost no suggestion of trajectory. This is music that, if it doesn't live in the moment, it doesn't live at all. Soloist Carolin Widmann makes every tiniest inflection tell, and conductor Emilio Pomárico ensures that the large orchestra delivers its 50 minutes of strangely miniaturised sounds with unfailing concentration.
url.ie/7ebo

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor