Artful ‘Symmetry’ Entices and Enchants

The great popularity of Morton Feldman’s very slow, very minimal, very soft and exceedingly long late chamber works has been fueled by fine recordings that have been coming out during the last decade. One such recording is that of the trio “Crippled Symmetry” for flute, percussion and keyboards, released by members of the California EAR Unit in 1999. But hearing the score performed live by the EAR Unit Wednesday night at the Leo S. Bing Theater of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art demonstrated how little suited Feldman’s music is to recordings, no matter how well done they are.

“Crippled Symmetry” is, by late Feldman standards, of moderate length. Wednesday’s performance lasted one hour and 43 minutes (Feldman’s Second String Quartet can require as many as six hours if all the repeats are honored). Still, “Crippled Symmetry”--which unfolds in a single, seamless movement--requires an unusual level of concentration from performer and listener alike.

Written in 1983, the trio reflects not only Feldman’s close connection with the Abstract Expressionist visual artists of the 1950s and ‘60s but also his later fascination with the patterns of Turkish rugs. Looking for musical equivalents to those rugs, he devised short, elemental melodic patterns, sometimes just a broken chord or a few repeated notes, that are transformed for relatively short periods before gracefully evolving into new ones.

Each instrument works in its own time frame, never simultaneous with the others but never far apart. As the trio moves over its generous time frame, one sits back, the heart rate slows and the process of this music takes over a listener’s consciousness. Some sleep (Feldman himself could be caught napping during performances), some go into other states of consciousness, some just listen. Everyone approaches this music on his or her own terms, but somehow this music creates a collective consciousness.

That is the greatness of Feldman’s art. Wednesday, it was the result of ever-enchanting sounds and the contagion of concentration from three persuasive performers--flutist Dorothy Stone, percussionist Amy Knoles (Arthur Jarvinen performed on the ensemble’s recording) and pianist Vicki Ray.

Visual composer that he was, Feldman understood just how much the ear can be affected by observing the ritual of three musicians utterly absorbed but never tense, producing continual subtle tone with precision for long spans of time.

There is not a trace of drama in this trance-like music, but there is nothing but drama in the sustained effort of making it. Single notes from the celesta float around the hall like a kind of sonic confetti, the bass flute creates the acoustical effect of expanding and contracting viscous liquids, the glockenspiel and vibraphone seem to distill the essence of bright and muted musical colors.

The performance was amplified. The instruments carry perfectly well unassisted in the Bing, but the sound design by Gregory Kuhn gave the impression that the instruments were quieter, not louder, than normal, with the effect of drawing us into the music, not of the music coming at us.

And that quality, more than any other, is impossible to achieve on a recording. The “Crippled Symmetry” CD is a nice addition to your house; in the Bing on Wednesday, it was a memorable addition to one’s life.