"...the stamina of the players was remarkable - critically important in music such as this - enabling the audience to immerse themselves fully in the soundworld."

Morton Feldman Trio

Performed by John Tilbury (piano), Ian Humphries (violin) and Deidre Cooper (cello)

Written in 1980, Trio is a product of Feldman's late compositional period where the composer explored extended durations within a concert setting. However, it differs from many other compositions of this period in that repetition is much less important and the variety of instrumental techniques employed is far larger than other pieces of the time.

The performance lasted close to 100 minutes, and the stamina of the players was remarkable - critically important in music such as this - enabling the audience to immerse themselves fully in the soundworld. John Tilbury's piano playing was particularly notable; balancing with two string instruments continually playing very quietly is no mean feat, and the ability to sustain the level of intensity through repeatedly quiet notes was exemplified beautifully in this performance. The unremitting time signature changes were handled immaculately, and gave a strong lilting, almost swung feel to the music.

Feldman's intriguing use of double sharps and double flats in the string parts gives a more complex sound and helps to differentiate tones within small intervals to achieve a stronger clarity. The string playing in the performance reflected this intention successfully, with slight nuances of tuning giving an added sharpness to the overall sound.

One of the fascinating characteristics of the piece is the large range of playing techniques involved, which then merge together to produce a striking similar surface sound throughout the piece. While the individual elements differ among themselves, the overall result is one of interlocking constituents which create a gradually undulating surface. However, there is one extraordinary moment where the piano, having played only pianissimo or less for well over thirty minutes, suddenly plays a loud chord which jerks the listener out of their quiet listening environment and forces them to re-define their listening perspective. This moment only occurs once within the piece, and serves as an intense focal point within the globally static texture.

The experience of this mesmerizing concert on a summer's afternoon in St Paul's was one of serene beauty and a credit to all three performers who worked tirelessly to achieve a superb result - roll on November!

Richard Glover, June 2008