This disc is an audio
DVD containing three works by Morton
Feldman along with new works by four
other composers. While the Feldman pieces
are what grabs attention, some of the
other works are very interesting indeed.
The misnamed "Three Pieces for String
Quartet" by Feldman - misnamed because
they are a combination of Feldman's
1954 Two Pieces for String Quartet and
his 1956 For String Quartet - are three
short pieces (each less than five minutes)
that, in retrospect, harken forward
to his later string quartets, with similar
structures and approaches. Brief phrases,
short touches and deft strokes of melody
arise and fade away; the instruments
occasionally sound like an ensemble,
but at other times sound like four instruments
each playing their own fragments. Curiously,
each of these works figures twice on
the disc, once separate (the Two Pieces
followed by another work, then the For
String Quartet) and once together. This
is not great, memorable Feldman, but
is interesting for those who like his
work.
Next comes David Toub's
astounding mf, an homage to Feldman,
but a totally different type of work.
This is Toub's first recorded work,
and it has a Glassian sound, a sort
of driving rhythm with rocking melodies
that got me tapping my feet, truly enjoying
the gestalt of the work. This work is
underscored by swaying intervals played
on viola that maintain a strong rhythm,
but also the underlying melodic base
of the work. After about ten minutes,
the tone changes, becoming more mysterious,
then returns again to the opening motive
of rhythmic energy to close with a joining
of the instruments on a final tone.
David Kotolwy's Of
Shade to Light is a haunting work that
begins on a droning tone which arises
and fades away and changes octave. With
a tone similar to that of Feldman's
two string quartets, this work is sinuous
and hesitant; while not much happens,
what does occur is interesting. The
gradual shifts from one unison tone
to a harmony, from music to silence,
make the listener wonder where the music
is going. An homage to Schoenberg, this
work is quite beautiful, with its enigmatic
sound and interesting tone colors.
John Prokop's New England,
Late Summer is, as the composer says
in the liner notes, "something that
would not call attention to itself but
be still an effective canvas." Written
as "background" music for his wedding,
this 15-minute piece is similar to the
ambient music of composers such as Brian
Eno and Harold Budd. While written as
a soundscape, its breathing-like rhythm
can grab hold of the listener, and its
repetitive yet changing motives provide
familiarity as the piece progresses.
It certainly works as an ambient piece,
yet merits a close listen.
Finally, the 30-minute
As Beautiful as a Crescent of a New
Moon on a Cloudless Spring Evening,
by David Beardsley, is a work that you
will either love or hate. "Tuned to
the system known as just intonation,"
the work could be described by some
as out of tune. Some people may find
this type of music attractive, but it
sounds to me like a group of instruments
that are simply not in key. With long,
droning tones, and no real harmony to
speak of, aside from what sounds like
a swarm of bees in the last eight minutes
or so where each instrument plays a
single tone together. The performers
find it difficult at times to maintain
their notes in tune - according to the
tuning system - and you can hear them
wavering at times. A few minutes of
this is interesting; 30 minutes is too
much.
So there are three
very interesting new works, three short
Feldman pieces, and one long work that
may not appeal to many listeners. However,
all this is moot if the DVD-audio format
poses problems to you. Unplayable on
CD players and many DVD players, you
cannot listen to this disc easily. You
also cannot digitize it to listen on
an iPod, or via any digital music player.
Add to that the relatively expensive
price (one disc for the price of two),
and the fact that it is a burned DVD
as opposed to a manufactured DVD (more
fragile) and there are enough negatives
to turn you away from this disc. Composer
David Toub has even criticized the choice
of the DVD-A format on his website.
There is one alternative though: you
can buy the album from iTunes, for the
standard album price, and get this music
in a much more usable format.
It's a shame that such
interesting new music is stuck on a
format that is complicated to play,
and offers few advantages (aside from
being able to hold more music than a
CD; this disc is about 95 minutes long).
Little-known composers need exposure,
and this type of disc will remain in
the cubby-holes of new music just because
of the format it uses. Nevertheless,
for the three works by Toub, Kotolwy
and Prokop, this disc offers a rare
chance to discover some composers who
merit much more attention.
Kirk McElhearn
Rangzen Quartet, Christina Fong 
DVD-AUDIO 
