Forms 1-4 - In Memoriam Edgar Varèse, John Cage, Stefan Wolpe, Morton Feldman

Released in 2002 on the Swiss label hat[now]ART, this collection represents a dedicated homage to four titans of the twentieth-century avant-garde. The project was curated by American composer James Tenney, who sought to bridge the gap between his own theoretical approach to acoustic perception and the foundational legacies of his predecessors: Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Stefan Wolpe, and Morton Feldman. The selection of works reflects a deliberate focus on the exploration of sound space, timbre, and non-linear structure that defined the mid-century experimental movement.

The ensemble musikFabrik delivers these interpretations with a clinical precision that honors the intricate scores of the composers involved. The album serves as an archival bridge, connecting the historical gravity of the New York School and their European influences with the contemporary interpretive practices of the turn of the millennium. Critically, the release was well-received by the contemporary music community for its coherent thematic curation and the clarity of the performances, reinforcing hat[now]ART’s reputation for documenting the most rigorous fringes of classical modernism.