Gregor Herzfeld: Historisches Bewusstsein in Morton Feldmans Unterrichtsskizzen

During his tenure as professor at New York State University at Buffalo, Morton Feldman became absorbed with music historical issues. Since to him the teaching of composition was synonymous with the teaching of instrumentation, his teaching notes, preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, reveal a growing interest in certain stages of orchestral and instrumental treatment, particularly in Schoenberg’s free atonal works (from the Chamber Symphony, op. 9 to 4 Songs for Voice and Orchestra, op. 22), which Feldman referred to as the “best history of twentieth-century orchestration.” He considered his own goals, topics of concern, and ideas parallel to those of Schoenberg during that time. These reflections on historical parameters, which one would not necessarily associate with Feldman, influenced his method of composition in the 70s as well as the development of his pattern technique around 1980. Borrowing from Schoenberg, he regarded these pieces as “developing variations.”

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