Morton Feldman on Jewishness in his musical aesthetic

“Most people think,  ‘What could I do?’ 

I think, ‘What shouldn’t I do?”

That … perhaps is involved with the fact that I’m Jewish. … I don’t feel comfortable enough to feel that everything is on my side, that it’s going to work just the way I want it. I’m not suspicious, I’m just careful. “

Another notable quote:

Because I’m Jewish, I do not identify with, say, Western civilization music. In other words, when Bach gives us a diminished fourth, I cannot respond that the diminished fourth means, O God. . . . What are our morals in music? Our moral in music is nineteenth-century German music, isn’t it? I do think about that, and I do think about the fact that I want to be the first great composer that is Jewish.

If you’re interested, I recommend this article by Alex Ross, of The New Yorker!

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