View from Here

For The View from Here, pianist Barbara Pritchard has selected a program of works imbued with the musical spirit of American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987). The Canadian composers here represented are of subsequent generations to Feldman and bear relation to him in varied ways, from having studies with him to simply being familiar with his music. These pieces also share a characteristic feature of Feldman’s piano music: they are deceptively simple, their slow, quiet qualities requiring of the pianist an acute concentration, plus a refined discipline that is focused not on pyrotechnic virtuosity but on highly sensitized restraint – often as though the keyboard were caressed rather than percussed.

“This CD is perfect for quiet contemplation and ‘ear cleaning’, but it ain’t new age. Pritchard has the touch and she reaches out and grabs you with it. This is one of the best Canadian piano discs I’ve heard to date.”
– Bruce Russell, Musicworks

“Many of these pieces were commissioned by or written for Pritchard, who playes them with admirable restraint and a sensitive touch, having gauged just the right amount of lyricism and tonal color necessary for each… an hour pleasantly spent.”
– Art Lange, Fanfare

“Take off your shoes; this is music for contemplation.”
– William Littler, The Toronto Star

PETER HATCH

1. Fragments of an Unknown Teaching

LINDA CATLIN SMITH

2. The View from Here

ANTHONY GENGE

3. Dream Waltz

BARBARA MONK FELDMAN

4. The I and Thou

LINDA CATLIN SMITH

5. The Surroundings

JAMES ROLFE

6. Idiot Sorrow

JOHN REA

7. Portrait of a Man in Elysian Fields

PERFORMERS:

Barbara Pritchard, piano