Morton Feldman says: selected interviews and lectures 1964–1987

Feldman is now widely recognized, alongside John Cage and Edgard Varèse, as one of the foremost American composers of the twentieth century. Despite his reputation, he remains poorly represented in published literature. Feldman loved to talk. This lifelong passion is demonstrated in the many interviews and lectures Morton Feldman gave about his life and work. Over the past seven years, editor Chris Villars has collected and published many of Feldman’s interviews online, a selection of which is now available for the first time in this book. The book is certainly an important addition to the literature of Feldman. Morton Feldman says can also be enjoyed for the pleasure that Feldman’s words offer, and for the illumination that they give to anyone who is making work in art or design. In this way it is an appropriate start to Hyphen New Series, within which it is published. Morton Feldman says features 21 interviews and notes on conversations spanning 23 years of Feldman’s life, including conversations with Gavin Bryars, Kevin Volans, and Walter Zimmermann, as well as transcriptions of four of Feldman’s lectures, held in Toronto (1982),Johannesburg (1983),and Darmstadt (1984). The publication also contains an introduction by the editor and the first English translation of Sebastian Claren’s biographical notes (originally published in Neither: Die Musik Morton Feldmans). A key element in the book is the photographs from Feldman’s life, which provide a rich accompaniment to the text.