Morton Feldman - Illusions

Four Illusions, for piano (1950) I. Very Fast II. Slow & Tranquil (2:22) III. Very Fast (4:41) IV. Very Fast (5:12) Aki Takahashi, piano Morton Feldman completed Illusions for solo piano in 1950. The composer’s former teacher, Stefan Wolpe, who was a former student of Webern and wrote in an atonal style, directly influences this work. Illusions is in four parts; the first two are slightly over two minutes long while the second two are about thirty seconds each. Its sound suggests the atonal music of the Second Viennese School. This work can be considered pre-Feldman, insofar as it does not reflect the legacy that discerning listeners have come to appreciate, but it is interesting music because it is an isolated, surviving example of what he was creating before he found the path to his own artistic voice. It is also interesting music, presenting a graceful set of contrasts that illustrate an enthusiasm for music that would later flower into one of the finest musical forces of the twentieth century. At the time of this work’s composition, Feldman was not yet twenty-four years old and had not attended a university. In fact, his only position in a university was that of a composition instructor, but this position did not materialize until the 1970s. His musical education had begun with his own mother, teaching him piano until he was twelve. To young Feldman’s great benefit, he then came under the tutelage of a Russian aristocrat named Madame Maurina-Press, who was a friend of Scriabin and studied with Busoni. Her instruction was of vital importance to his development as a composer. He never ceased to be grateful to her throughout his life, praising her for instilling in him musicality, rather than musicianship. At eighteen he met Wolpe, with whom music lessons were extended debates and little more. This relationship went on for years. In 1950, when Illusions was written, Feldman had attended a performance of Webern’s Symphony at Carnegie Hall. The ensuing antagonism from the audience compelled him to leave early, and in the lobby he met John Cage. This was the precise moment when everything changed for Feldman, because Cage introduced him to other composers, great painters, and an entire art world that would bring him into the realm of the new and decidedly American avant-garde. Taking into account that Maurina-Press and Wolpe were of European birth, it could be said that Illusions for solo piano is Feldman’s token European work. There is nothing in it that would suggest that the composer was American. The first movement combines the earnest fire of Schoenberg’s atonal piano writing with bursts of the decadent, post-tonal chord progressions of Berg. The second movement sounds like an idea of Schoenberg’s being developed by Scriabin. Movements three and four are too short to avoid comparisons to Webern. In essence, it is the music of a student, and it will not paint an accurate picture of the composer’s more valuable output. It will, however, bring enthusiasts of Feldman’s music even closer to understanding his development as a young man, illustrating what influences he was distancing himself from during his formative years with Cage in the early 1950s. It is also interesting to compare the young Feldman, an imitator, to the mature Feldman, a trailblazer. Most composers cover their tracks, careful to not let the world remember that they were once students, forced to imitate in order to acquire an understanding of their craft. Debussy was unhappy when his juvenilia was published against his wishes, but we are fortunate to have it. Illusions for solo piano was not recorded during Feldman’s lifetime, and perhaps he wanted it forgotten, but it is a revealing listen. [] Art by Henry Mundy