Morton Feldman, Mark O'Leary and the Art of Deep Listening
From the radical stillness of the New York School to the spacious improvisations of one of Ireland's most adventurous composers, the aesthetic of Morton Feldman continues to reverberate through contemporary music. Mark O'Leary's work reveals how silence, timbre and duration remain among the most compelling materials available to modern composition. Some music asks to be understood. Morton Feldman's asks to be inhabited. His compositions seem almost to suspend time itself. Melody refuses to resolve, rhythm relinquishes its customary authority, and silence ceases to function as the space between events. Instead, silence becomes the event. Feldman transformed listening from an act of anticipation into one of attention, inviting audiences to dwell inside sound rather than pursue its destination. Although separated by generations and working within very different musical worlds, Feldman and Irish guitarist and composer Mark O'Leary share a striking artistic affinity. The...