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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




  version 1


  version 2


  version 3


  version 4


  version 5


  version 6

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