I used to listen to piano and string quartet after a long trail run. I would lay on a picnic table and stare through the tree branches. If I was lucky, a leaf or two would lazily fall onto my body.

Having studied with Morty from 1979-1981. I do feel guilty when I fall asleep during his longer works. (I did not call him 'Morty', btw). I appreciate your fair assessment of his work.
I recall his fascination with rugs and patterns, as well as framing time and disregarding direction. Aside from teaching me to think (by asking stunningly simple questions you would think no one would ask) he instilled in me the importance of register to convey emotion, much like Ravel, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. Feldman's emotional content was understated, but evident nonetheless. One need not cry out in order to behold one's pain.
Like him or not, he had his own sound world. No one has duplicated it.
Thanks, Dave.

A favorite! I once got up at 4 am so I could hear the Kronos recording of PIANO AND STRING QUARTET at the proper level without all the noise pollution that comes later in the day around here . And I have absolutely used Feldman to usher me to the kingdom of Morpheus. The experience you describe parallels my own.

Wonderful music. A short early-ish piece called "Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety" is one I come back to time and again.

Thank you for this! I've been listening to Feldman for years and can't get enough of it. "Neither", his particular take on opera, which is under an hour long, is also a great way into his sound world. Keep on listening!

Love Morty!!

His String Quartet No. 2 is one of the most important 20th century compositions

Rothko Chapel is a space designed to show a series of very large paintings by the great Anerican artist Mark Rothko. He painted them for the space. Now I want to hear Feldman's homage. Thanx David!

I only know Feldman from watching a portion of Samuel Andreyev listen to the second string quartet, jajaja. Thanks for the advice!

I played King of Denmark in college and have appreciated his music since. I love Why Patterns? in part because it "makes a lady of the glockenspiel."
I haven't listened to any of his vocal music... looking forward to checking that out. Thanks David!

One day when I was home from work sick I tried to listen intently to Feldman's 6 hour long 2nd String Quartet. It was a unique experience. I was not able to focus on it completely for the entire 6 hours without my mind wondering but there were periods lasting more than an hour at a time I would estimate where I was so drawn in to the slowly moving and changing patterns that I was completely lost in it. Of course, I was sick so that probably affected my ability to concentrate but it was quite an experience.

I meant to also mention how important Feldman's early works are, even though they are so different from his late, monumental pieces. I finally tracked down the Feldman
"box set" Ecstasy of the Moment (The Barton Workshop) 3 CD compilation about two years ago, used on eBay, which for years went out of print, even though Virgin Store
used to sell it new for $20 (!), and stupidly I didn't buy it then. Anyway, that set contains essential early Feldman pieces when he was in his most experimental
"graph paper" indeterminate score phase. It's Feldman at his most primal and stark. Not for everyone, but it's fascinating to trace those works leading up to his
later, sprawling works.

I remember some years ago listening to Rothko Chapel. It was late at night. Having given it a try before which had left me indifferent I did not know what to expect now. I think it was wise not to expect anything. I just closed my eyes and let the music surround me. It has been one of the closest experiences I have had with music as matter, as something tangible around oneself. It goes to show that even music without emotion or expression, as David accurately says, can do many other things as a purely aural happening.

Brilliant explained, i've been fascinated by Feldman for a couple of years, his music is like none, and it's just as you say (parafrased): you have to go with the flow, and when you're in the right mood, it can be hypnotic because there is almost no emotion involved, it is sound in the most pure sense of the word. Perfect for a late night listening session, in the beginning you're mind tries to resist and you feel some irritation, but when you surrender, it can become a mesmerizing and deeply rewarding experience. Indeed, lying in bed and drifting off (sometimes after a couple of minutes),  i felt a bit guilty, but as you say, you don't have to feel guilty at all. He was quite 'popular' in the 80s (i think)  in the Netherlands, with a conservatory project in The Hague.

What a great, encouraging approach to "For Philip Guston" you gave at 14:57 ff.
I played "For Philip Guston" in its entirety during one of my monthly 90s´ Saturday night programs at Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg (Germany). It was the performance by Eberhard Blum, Nils Vigeland and Jan Williams, published in 1992 by Swiss Hat Hut Records, the digital recording of a live performance at Slee Concert Hall, University at Buffalo, New York, August 19th - 21st 1991.

Whoever is a friend of Haydn and Feldman is a friend of mine.

Reminds me of Ligeti's work and the tune at the end, Vaughan William's. Nice piece for James Webb photos. And Hubble.

Thank you for this, David. I've been listening to Feldman, on and off, for years. To me, his music usually sounds like it's on the precipice of some abyss. Plus the fact that it's quiet and meditative, makes it perfect to write screenplays too. It evokes unglimpsed mysteries without being distracting.

Feldman is one of my musical heroes. For the piano music, I regularly go back to the John Tilbury box. Rothko Chapel is a great, great work and the Rupert Huber recording is distinguished by the precision of the choral singing. The Tilson Thomas disc of orchestral works (including Coptic Light) is self-recommending. But the late, large-scale works are the ones I love the most. Piano and String Quartet (the Kronos recording is beautiful), Crippled Symmetry, For Philip Guston.

You do not need to tell me. I love the music of Feldman. Have done so for many many years. I am so happy you find him as fascinating as I do.

Excellent intro to a singular voice.  Feldman's music is a perfect mirror to the first generation Ab Ex painters he knew(Guston, obviously, but Pollock and de Kooning, too) in its concern with scale.  As with an oversized Pollock, it's up to the viewer/listener to find his/her way into the work, and while that imposes a burden it also empowers us to make of these pieces what, and how, we will.