Morton Feldman
Samuel Beckett, Words & Music
Short instrumentation: fl(2), vib, pno, vln, vla, vc
Duration: 42'
Instrumentation details:
1st flute (+picc)
2nd flute
vibraphone
piano
violin
viola
violoncello
Feldman - Samuel Beckett, Words & Music for chamber ensemble
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Morton Feldman
Feldman: Samuel Beckett, Words & MusicOrchestration: for chamber ensemble
Type: Dirigierpartitur
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Work introduction
In 1961 Samuel Beckett wrote Words and Music for BBC radio, a play featuring the two characters “Words” and “Music” (also referred to as Joe and Bob). The work was withdrawn following the première due to Beckett’s dissatisfaction. 20 years later, Beckett suggested that Morton Feldman should compose the music, resulting in the first complete performance in 1987 (the year of Feldman’s death), produced for the American Beckett Festival of Radio Plays. In Feldman’s words: ‘It was a huge amount of fun to do something for Beckett, a sort of tribute to him, i.e. someone who has been part of my life since the ‘50’s … it was to some extent a labour of love, which I happily undertook.’