Morton Feldman – Three Voices (For Joan La Barbara)

Tracklist

Three Voices

1. Opening
2. Legato
3. Slow Waltz
4. First Words
5. Whisper
6. Chords
7. A Non Accented Legato
8. Snow Falls
9. Legato
10. Slow Waltz And Ending

“Three Voices” composed for Joan La Barbara and completed April 15, 1982, uses delicate repeating patterns of precise pitches and rhythms and is indicated to be sung very softly (ppp). It is a setting of fragments from the poem, “Wind”, by Frank O’Hara (dedicated to Morton Feldman). The composition is sung in vocalise until just before the midpoint of the piece when the text appears. It was first performed in March 1983 at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.