Ives Ensemble

Ives Ensemble: Morton Feldman: String Quartet

by Glenn Astarita
December 16, 2007

There's always been a crossover appeal among avant, jazz artists with renegade contemporary classical composers. As with various musical forms, and perhaps life in general, rules are sometimes meant to be broken. String Quartet features a 1979-penned composition by Morton Feldman, recorded by the highly-regarded Dutch group known as the [Charles] Ives Ensemble.

Feldman's minimalist tendencies come to fruition, but there's also an element of shock and incident-driven variations amid ever-so-slight tonal variations that surface within unusual circumstances. ...