Morton Feldman: For Samuel Beckett

An earlier version of Morton Feldman's For Samuel Beckett existed on a 1992 hat ART CD performed by Ensemble Modern. Their take on this eerie, meditative study in slow, dissonant pulses and atonal moods was somewhat more muted than the disc under review here. The timings are virtually the same (about 43 minutes), but the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin gives a more assertive role to the piano's out-of-sync declarations, betraying the work's skeletal underpinnings. This is not a transparent work, however. Feldman's music flows measure by measure, each with its own timing and key notations--very demanding for player and listener alike. This isn't the place to start with Feldman, but Feldman fans will want this as their reference disc for this important work. --Paul Cook