Another Timbre TimHarrisonbre
The Anonymous Feldman Zone
‘For Bunita Marcus’ (1985) is one of the most revered and frequently performed works in Morton Feldman’s catalogue. It has been released on disc at least 12 times, sometimes played by well-known Feldman interpreters, sometimes by celebrated pianists who aren’t primarily associated with experimental music, and sometimes by pianists who are not at all well-known.
Some people maintain that one or other pianist’s version is superior to the others, or that a particular pianist’s touch is unique. There are obviously differences of interpretation across the many recordings, but in a blind test how easy is it to distinguish between the various versions?
Below on the left are the names of six of the pianists who have recorded ‘For Bunita Marcus’. On the right are six audio extracts in a random order, one by each of the pianists listed. The extracts feature the same passage from the piece, lasting between 4’20” and 5’10” depending on the interpretation.
You can listen to all six versions and see which you prefer. And, if you like, you can try to match each extract to a particular pianist. To find out who is playing on each extract, click on the link at the bottom of the page.
We think it’s wonderful music, so have fun.
Six recordings in order of release date
Hildegard Kleeb Hat art 1991
John Tilbury LondonHALL 1993
Stéphane Ginsburgh Sub Rosa 2007
Louis Goldstein Nuscope 2010
Satoko Inoue ALM Records 2013
Marc-André Hamelin Hyperion 2017
For earlier Anonymous Zone projects from 2011-2013, go here
To find out who is playing on each of the six versions, go here
Six other recordings of ‘For Bunita Marcus’ not represented here
Markus Hinterhäuser Col Legno 1995
Sabine Liebner Oehms Classics 2007
Steffen Schleiermacher MDG 2009
Gianni Lenoci Amirani Records 2013
Lenio Liatsu God Records 2014
Ivan Ilić Paraty 2015