Hannah Horsfall, Nick Smith, Mark Wastell & Rhodri Davies - Subdivisions with Morton Feldman (CONFRONT RECORDINGS 2018)

Richard Sanderson asked me to present a piece at his Micro-Classical festival, an annual event that favoured contemporary composed music. I’ve often credited Morton Feldman as a considerable early influence and this was an attempt to assimilate Feldman’s sound world. 

Subdivisions with Morton Feldman was performed once. There was no rehearsal: Nick and Hannah handled the intention of the piece superbly from a few spoken instructions prior to performance. Rhodri was unable to make the concert so we prerecorded his contribution, the harp part from Feldman’s Durations V. Nick, Hannah, and I improvised our parts. The fifth element was a recording of Art Lange reading from Give My Regards to Eighth Street: Collected Writings of Morton Feldman. It is a pleasure finally to make the piece available. 

Phil Durrant performed a live electronics piece dedicated to David Tudor at that same concert. The New York School was celebrated well that sunny afternoon in Stoke Newington, twenty years ago. 

— Mark Wastell

Confront Archives 1: Subdivisions with Morton Feldman (1998)

Hannah Horsfall: flute

Nick Smith: percussion

Mark Wastell: violoncello

Rhodri Davies: prerecorded concert harp

1. Subdivisions with Morton Feldman 16:58

Recorded at Micro-Classical, Stoke Newington Library, London, 1998-04-04.

The Confront Archives are for those who pay more attention to music than to tape hiss. Not every performance that was captured survives in perfect sound. Confront Archives releases tell the story of the music through previously unreleased recordings.

Rhodri Davies, Alessandra Rombolà, Matt Davis, & Mark Wastell - Live @ St. Michael & All Angels (CONFRONT RECORDINGS 2018)

In April 1999, I left London and music for a while. In my absence, Rhodri set up a concert schedule at a gorgeous venue in West London, and there I gave my first performance on my return home. As Rhodri mentions in his charming introduction, the group was lent an international flavour by the inclusion of Italian flautist Alessandra Rombolà, then just about to complete her studies at Trinity College, and Matt Davis, who flew in from Barcelona for the concert. This was the only time the group played. 

— Mark Wastell

1. Untitled (Live at St. Michael & All Angels) 30:22

Alessandra Rombolà: flute

Rhodri Davies: harp

Matt Davis: trumpet

Mark Wastell: cello

This concert was recorded in West London on 2000-03-31 by Tim Fletcher and previously released on CD-R in an edition of 50 as Confront London Preservation Series FRONT 10.

Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, & Mark Wastell - Assumed Possibilities (CONFRONT RECORDINGS 2018)

It seems that the whole purpose of this group is to create an ensemble sound, not a series of solos or duos. Although one player may emerge into prominence, it rarely lasts long and all four are much more interested in where the quartet can take the music than in making personal statements. Take “Ysbeiliais rifedi’r sêr” (Davies almost always manages to get some Welsh track titles into his projects), with its volcanic opening; “nobody solos, everybody solos” doesn’t even come close. These are intricate, complicated improvisations which demand your undivided attention. 

— Richard Cochrane, Musings

Chris Burn: piano

Rhodri Davies: harp

Phil Durrant: violin

Mark Wastell: cello

Recorded in London on 1998-01-25 by Mark Wastell and Phil Durrant, edited and mastered by Peter Cusack, and previously released in a limited edition of 100 numbered CD-Rs as Confront FRONT 05.

1. For John Latham 02:49

2. Yn Abercuawc yt ganant gogeu 05:27

3. For Patrick Heron 09:06

4. Resources for a journey of hope 07:14

5. For Robert Ryman 07:37

6. Ysbeiliais rifedi’r sêr 05:55

7. For Robert Motherwell 09:26

8. Mwnt 06:58