MORTON FELDMAN : Something Wild : Music for Film (Ensemble Recherche) (2002) Two Version | APE + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

While it might not come as a complete surprise that Morton Feldman composed some music for cinema, it may well shock fans of his work to realize how far he was willing to adapt to the needs of the film. This disc, beautifully performed by the Ensemble Recherche, contains seven soundtracks dating from 1950 to 1981. The two written as accompaniment for documentaries on the painters Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, from 1950 and 1963, respectively, fall very much in line with Feldman's other output from those periods. The former is static and pointillistic, while the latter is a gorgeous example of notes hung in space that clearly point toward his later masterworks for small groups of instruments. But the disc starts off with a short piece written for the 1960 film, Something Wild in the City, by Jack Garfein (though it was never used). Scored for horn, celesta, and string quartet, its eerie lullaby nature foreshadows the sort of warped children's song used in 1980s horror films, as well as some of John Zorn's '90s soundtrack work. Even wilder, the music for Samoa and The Sin of Jesus is replete with brass fanfares, crescendi, drastic fluctuations of dynamics, and all manner of devices that one rarely associates with this composer. Better still, they're lots of fun. "Untitled Film Music," from 1960, even utilizes a decidedly jazzy double bass. Despite his reputation for extreme aestheticism, it's obvious that Feldman was, at least on occasion, willing to bend to more populist requirements. A singular entry in his oeuvre, this disc is required listening for anyone wanting a complete picture of this great composer. Peter Niklas Wilson provides some excellent and informative liner notes. Brian Olewnick
MORTON FELDMAN (1926-1987)
1.    Something Wild In The City: Mary Ann's Theme 2:59
Violin – Anikó Szathmary
2-8.    Jackson Pollock    6:42
9-13. Samoa    10:52
14.    For Aaron Copland    5:13
15-22.  The Sin Of Jesus    13:12
23-32.   [Untitled Film Music]    7:48
33.    De Kooning    12:01
Credits :
Artwork [Cover Artwork] – Jakob Gasteiger
Cello [Violoncello] – Lucas Fels, Tobias Moster (tracks: 2 to 8)
Double Bass – Jürgen Faller
Ensemble – ensemble recherche
Flute – Martin Fahlenbock
French Horn – John Stobart
Harp – Charlotte Balzereit
Percussion – Christian Dierstein
Piano, Celesta – Klaus Steffes-Holländer
Trombone – Andrew Digby
Trumpet – Markus Schwind
Tuba – Klaus Burger
Viola – Barbara Maurer
Violin – Melise Mellinger

MORTON FELDMAN : Routine Investigations (Ensemble Recherche) (1994) Ensemble Recherche Edition – 1 Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

These five works, written between 1970 and 1976, date from that critical period in Morton Feldman's career when the composer began notating rhythm precisely (as opposed to his earlier experimental work with graphic notation and the floating sonorities of the Durations series) and reintroducing melody, especially in "The Viola in My Life," a series of four works (the first two of which are included here) written for violist Karen Phillips. Barbara Maurer's execution of these delicate wisps of melody trailing off into space is exemplary, as are all the performances by Freiburg's Ensemble Recherche. Each of these extraordinary works creates its own personal universe in terms of both material and instrumentation, from the romanticism (lowercase r) of the "Viola" pieces to the ghostly percussion of "For Frank O'Hara" (which contains that most rare of events in Feldman's music, a shattering fortissimo crescendo on snare drum -- once heard, never forgotten), and apart from setting the stage for his long late (post-1981) pieces, they together offer irrefutable proof that Feldman almost single-handedly restored intuition to American experimental music. As Kyle Gann astutely notes in his brief accompanying essay, "Feldman rescued subjectivity from bad faith." Essential listening. Dan Warburton  
MORTON FELDMAN (1926-1987)
1.    Routine Investigations 7:25
Double Bass – Daniel Mehltretter
Oboe – Peter Veale
Trumpet [Trompet] – Klaus Schuhwerk
2.    The Viola In My Life II    11:22
3.    For Frank O'Hara 17:32
Percussion – Edith Salmen-Weber
4.    The Viola In My Life I    11:47
5.    I Met Heine On The Rue Fürstenberg 11:32
Voice – Annette Nödinger
Credits :
Cello [Violoncello] – Lucas Fels
Clarinet – Uwe Möckel (tracks: 2, 3, 5)
Flute – Martin Fahlenbock
Percussion – Christian Dierstein (tracks: 2 to 4)
Performer – Ensemble Recherche
Piano – Sven Thomas Kiebler (tracks: 1, 3 to 5)
Viola – Barbara Maurer (tracks: 1, 2, 4)
Violin – Melise Mellinger (tracks: 2 to 5)
Notas :
"Routine Investigations" for oboe, trompet, piano, viola, cello, double-bass [1976]
"The Viola In My Life II" for solo viola, flute, clarinet, percussion, celesta, violin, cello [1970]
"For Frank O'Hara" for flute (also piccolo and alt), clarinet, 2 percussionist, piano, violin, cello [1973]
"The Viola In My Life I" for solo viola, flute, percussion, piano, violin, cello [1970]
"I Met Heine On The Rue Fürstenberg" for flute (also piccolo), clarinet (also bass), percussion, piano, mezzo-soprano, violin, cello [1971]