In the summer of 1990, i released on Sub Rosa a recording of Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman (1926-1987).
It was one of the first recordings of this long work for solo piano completed on July 23, 1981.
The score i used had been published by Universal edition as number UE17326 in 1987. Shortly after my CD came out, Universal published a new edition. At the bottom of page 2, under a dedication to Aki Takahashi and Roger
Woodward is a small-print mention: 'corrected edition: 14.2.1991. I disregarded it for a long time. I had carefully read, annotated, analyzed, laboured over, performed live, and recorded my 1987 score. The work sounded great, the design of the edition was flawless, the composition was coherent from A to Z, and no erratum had been published.
In my eyes, that score was the work. Many listeners said they liked my meditative album, and i was pretty proud of it. But there was something lingering in my mind...
I went on to several other projects, and i considered the matter closed. However, much later, due to a few incomprehensible exterior signs, i decided to order a new score of Triadic Memories. I immediately noticed the 'corrected edition' mention. The score's layout looked exactly the same... except for a tiny detail: starting on page 5, small digits start to appear above most of the repeat marks. these numbers, which were omitted in 'my' score, obviously indicate the number of times some passages should be played - not twice, but 3, 4, 5, 7, up to 11 times! This tiny notation detail has tremendous consequences on the form of the composition. Universal had not even cared to inform me of this issue. I was mortified. With incredible generosity, Sub Rosa offered me to produce a new recording of this work, exactly 20 years after the first one.
So here it is. I did everything possible to tap into the spirit of the 1990 recording: same piano, same recording engineer, same working method, same approach to the keyboard... Now with the right score: my own 'corrected version.' The truth is, it's all different. To me, there is no possible 'corrected version.' The 1987-1991 edition was simply a different work, one that had not been completely drawn by its maker, and which presented different issues to its performer.
Jean-Luc Fafchamps