Morton Feldman @100

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33871/vortex.2026.14.11610

Keywords:

New music, experimental music, Morton Feldman

Abstract

This essay is a reflection on the music of composer Morton Feldman and its significance for composers today. In particular, it traces the development of Feldman's compositional aesthetic from his early graphic works to his later complex compositions of extended durational scale. It also considers the role that history plays in Feldman's late compositional thinking and his reimagining of sound in the later works.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Ming Tsao, University at Buffalo

Ming Tsao was born in Berkeley, California. His father emigrated from China and his mother's parents emigrated from Austria and Sweden. He studied violin and viola before travelling to Suzhou, China, to study with the renowned Guqin (Chinese zither) performer Wu Zhao-ji. He studied composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston and Ethnomusicology at Columbia University in New York before studies in Logic, Philosophy and Mathematics. Returning to composition, he gained a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of California, San Diego under Chaya Czernowin and Philipp Manoury as well as studying privately with Brian Ferneyhough. He was Professor of Composition at Göteborg University and Visiting Professor of Composition at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021 for music composition. In 2024, he was appointed as Birge-Cary Professor of Music at the University of Buffalo in New York.

References

ADORNO, Theodor W. Sound Figures. Rodney Livingston (trans.), Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.

ADORNO, Theodor W. Night Music. Wieland Hoban (trans.), London: Seagull Books, 2009

BURNHAM, Scott. Landscape as music, landscape as truth: Schubert and the burden of repetition. 19th-Century Music, v. 29, n. 1, p. 31–41, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ncm.2005.29.1.31. Accessed: Mar. 24, 2026.

FELDMAN, Morton. Give my regards to Eighth Street: collected writings. Edited by B. H. Friedman. Cambridge, MA: Exact Change, 2000.

FELDMAN, Morton. Morton Feldman says: selected interviews and lectures 1964–1987. Edited by Chris Villars. London: Hyphen Press, 2006.

FELDMAN, Morton. Morton Feldman in Middelburg: words on music; lectures and conversations. Edited by Raoul Mörchen. Köln: MusikTexte, 2008.

FELDMAN, Morton; BROWN, Earle; METZGER, Heinz-Klaus. Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Heinz-Klaus Metzger in discussion. Transcript accompanying EMI recording C165 28954/7, 1972.

LEPPERT, Richard. On reading Adorno hearing Schubert. 19th-Century Music, v. 29, n. 1, p. 56–63, 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ncm.2005.29.1.56. Accessed: Mar. 24, 2026.

Downloads

Published

2026-03-30

How to Cite

Tsao, M. (2026). Morton Feldman @100. Vortex Music Journal, 14, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.33871/vortex.2026.14.11610

Issue

Vol. 14 (2026): Revista Vórtex

Section

Dossier “Feldman”

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Ming Tsao

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Autores mantêm os direitos autorais e concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação, com o trabalho simultaneamente licenciado sob a Licença Creative Commons Attribution que permite o compartilhamento do trabalho com reconhecimento da autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC