Morton Feldman
On Time and the Instrumental Factor
Short instrumentation: 4 3 3 3 - 2 2 3 1 - hp, cel, glock, str
Duration: 8'
Instrumentation details:
piccolo
1st flute
2nd flute
alto flute
1st oboe
2nd oboe
cor anglais
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
bass clarinet in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
contrabassoon
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
1st trumpet in Bb
2nd trumpet in Bb
bass trumpet
1st trombone
2nd trombone
bass trombone
tuba
glockenspiel
harp
celesta
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Feldman - On Time and the Instrumental Factor for orchestra
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Morton Feldman
Feldman: On time and the Instrumental Factor for orchestraOrchestration: for orchestra
Type: Studienpartitur
Work introduction
The sounds were written directly for the instruments rather than being conceived as a grouping of interlocking sounds on the piano and then orchestrated. At first, the sounds were written one by one as a non-metrically measured unit. That is, in a non-time chronological series. I then structured each sound in terms of its acoustical reality (how long it takes to “speak”) and found a pulse in which they could then breathe without tension, gravity, or the feeling of a beat. In effect, I was primarily concerned with the natural time duration of each sound in its relation to a corresponding instrumental timbre.
Morton Feldman