Critical praise for CDs of Morton Feldman’s solo piano works

VIRTUOSO pianist Philip Thomas – a Professor at the University of Huddersfield – has become established as a major interpreter of the music of Morton Feldman, one of the most innovative and influential composers of the 20th century, whose works could stretch to well over an hour in length.

A newly-released five-CD set in which Professor Thomas performs almost all of Feldman’s solo piano works – composed between the 1950s and 1987 – has immediately attracted critical praise for the pianist’s “mastery and understanding” of the music.  The box set has been described in one review as “an authoritative presentation of some of the most important keyboard music of the second half of the 20th century”.

The discs, containing more than six hours of music, were recorded at the University of Huddersfield’s own St Paul’s Hall.  Sessions took place over the course of two years and Professor Thomas ensured that the hall’s Steinway grand was closely miked – “I wanted listeners to have a sense they are close-up to the sound of the hammers hitting the strings”.

You tend to explore different composers at different points in one’s life, but Feldman has stayed with me

In addition to his performances, which include the 90-minute work Triadic Memories from 1981 and the hour-long For Bunita Marcus (1986), Professor Thomas also wrote the text for a 52-page booklet in which he analyses the music of Morton Feldman, a New York-born composer who lived from 1926 to 1987.

In preparation for the recording project, Professor Thomas visited the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, home of the Morton Feldman archive.  He was able to increase his already extensive knowledge of the composer’s piano music by researching early or unpublished works and transcribing one piece from a recording of Feldman’s own playing.

“I have been playing Feldman’s music since the mid-1990s.  You tend to explore different composers at different points in one’s life, but Feldman has stayed with me,” said Professor Thomas.

 “When I did the recording, part of me thought that it would get Feldman’s music out of my system so maybe I could draw a line under it.  But I became so involved that it created new perspectives that will keep me going for another 25 years!”

Professor Thomas’s schedule has included a launch concert for the new CD set.  Future performances of Morton Feldman’s piano music include a 1 November recital in London and an appearance on Monday 18 November at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. For this free event at St Paul’s Hall (4.40pm), he will be joined by University of Huddersfield lecturer Dr Hilary Elliott in three early pieces by Feldman that are performed with a dancer.

• The Morton Feldman Piano box set is issued by Another Timbre.  It includes artworks by the English painter David Ainley.