Three Ghost Like Songs and Interlude (Performing Score): Vocal Book

These songs demand genuine intimacy between singer and accompanists. The combination of voice, trombone, viola, and piano creates an unusually transparent texture where every note registers with weight and clarity. Programs featuring experimental or twentieth-century vocal literature gain immediate credibility and artistic depth from including Feldman's work.

These songs exist in a hushed, almost ethereal space where time moves slowly and each instrumental voice occupies its own register without crowding. The listener feels suspended between presence and absence, held by the singer's line while trombone and viola trace delicate counterpoint around it. It is music that rewards absolute quiet from the audience.

Advanced vocalists preparing contemporary art song recitals or chamber concert programs will find this score essential repertoire. Ensembles focused on twentieth-century experimental music and singers comfortable with extended technique and interpretive freedom are ideal performers for Feldman's ghost-like soundworld.

• Resist the urge to fill silence or accelerate through sparse passages. The economy of material is intentional; let each gesture breathe.
• Balance the vocal line with the trombone and viola parts through careful dynamic negotiation rather than simple volume levels. Feldman's combinations often require the accompanists to recede so the voice floats forward.
• Establish a stable, unhurried tempo foundation with the pianist; this creates the ground on which the other instruments can move with precision.
• Pay close attention to any dynamic markings and rhythmic relationships Feldman specifies. His notation, while sometimes spare, is always deliberate.

Position this work within a concert dedicated to postwar experimental and avant-garde vocal music, pairing it with repertoire by composers like John Cage or Earle Brown. Alternatively, feature it as a sophisticated chamber work that demonstrates how Feldman expanded the possibilities of the human voice within ensemble contexts.

• Reading and interpreting sparse, minimalist notation
• Sustaining vocal tone with minimal textual support
• Ensemble balance and transparency with non-traditional chamber combinations
• Interpretation of indeterminate or graphically notated passages
• Developing sensitivity to silence and the spaces between musical events
• Understanding twentieth-century compositional aesthetics and extended vocal technique