Feldman & Frey

The Koan Quartet is joined by clarinettist Katie Porter to present Jürg Frey's Quintet, Clarinet and String Quartet and Morton Feldman's Clarinet and String Quartet.  

“Silence requires one decision - sound or no sound. Sound requires a great many more decisions. These shape the sound and give it its quality, feeling and its content. Thus silence, in its comprehensive, monolithic presence always stands as one against an infinite number of sounds or sound forms. Both stamp time and space, in that they come into appearance, in an existential sense. Together they comprise the entire complexity of life.”  - Jürg Frey, from The Architecture of Silence

Towards the latter part of his life, Feldman became increasingly interested in the patterns of Coptic Rugs as an influence on his music. There is a phenomena in rug making called abrash where there is a natural color variation due to the use of vegetable-based inks made in small batches. Feldman explores his fixation on abrash through the imperfect stillness designed in Clarinet and String Quartet. Patterns and shapes appear and are repeated with miniscule differences in strict, grid-like scoring. The musicians see slow, abstract rhythms fit into various stretched durations, repeated sometimes four to five times. Feldman designs these complex musical patterns to naturally vary from one another to avoid the music sounding “too perfect.” As listeners, the result is peaceful, ominous, introspective, and unsettling; distant passing storm clouds.   

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Admission: $15 at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds)