Durations 4, for violin, cello & vibraphone (1961)
Ensemble Avantgarde
Durations 4, like the other four works in the Durations series, allows each performer to determine the length of each individual note in each part (all the notes are written in the score as stemless whole notes). The performers can then proceed through their scores at their own paces within an overall tempo, giving the work a free-floating quality in which, in the composer's words, \"each instrument is living out its own individual life in its own individual sound world.\" Feldman is, however, very specific about the tone colors to be employed. The strings in Durations 4, for instance, are called upon to play frequent pizzicati, harmonics, and sul ponticello notes.
In Durations 4, the instruments sometimes move quite independently of one another, but at other times seem to converge as they share pitch material. Feldman sets the overall tempo at between 76 and 92 per stemless note, which results in a comparatively fast pace (at least for Feldman, whose music is frequently very slow). When listening to the Durations as a series (they may be played either individually or as a set), one is struck by the change in tone between the piano, which is used prominently in the other four pieces, and the vibraphone of Durations 4. It gives the piece a somewhat lighter touch than its companions. But like its companions, it is consistently quiet and delicate in sound. At just about three minutes, Durations 4, along with the similarly brief Durations 2, acts as something of an interlude between the longer Durations 1, 3, and 5. [Allmusic.com]
