Klang Systematiek: Feldman – Frey (An Encounter with Silence and Sound)

An evening of concentrated listening with the ensemble Klang Systematiek will take place on 30 April 2026 from 19:30 at Kostel Panny Marie Sněžné, featuring music by Morton Feldman, Jürg Frey and James Tenney. The programme is built around the relationship between sound, silence and resonance, with the remarkable acoustics of the church forming an integral part of the musical experience.

The performance brings together bass clarinetist Gareth Davis and percussionists Martin Švec and Elia Moretti, musicians known for their precise and attentive interpretations of contemporary repertoire. Their collaboration is characterised by a refined sensitivity to detail and an exceptional responsiveness to acoustic space, allowing the music to unfold with clarity and natural intensity.

The programme features three significant works exploring sound, duration and attentive listening: 60 Pieces of Sound by Jürg Frey, Bass Clarinet and Two Percussion by Morton Feldman, and For Percussion Perhaps, Or… (Night) by James Tenney. The concert also marks the centenary of Morton Feldman’s birth, offering a rare opportunity to encounter one of his most refined chamber works in a setting particularly suited to its quiet intensity. 

Frey’s composition unfolds as a delicate architecture of sustained tones and silences, where subtle changes in colour and resonance gradually come into focus. 

Feldman’s Bass Clarinet and Two Percussion explores similarly restrained territory, balancing the dark, breathing sonority of the bass clarinet with finely nuanced percussion textures. 

Tenney’s For Percussion Perhaps, Or… (Night) (1971), one of his experimental “Postal Pieces” originally written as postcard scores and dedicated to Harold Budd, consists of minimal performance instructions that encourage the exploration of extremely quiet, extended sounds and subtle timbral variations rather than conventional rhythm or melody. 

Together, the works create a coherent and immersive listening experience shaped as much by space and time as by the sounds themselves.

This evening offers an opportunity to hear works by Feldman, Frey and Tenney in a setting that highlights their subtle sonic qualities and invites focused listening, within the unique acoustic environment of one of Prague’s most remarkable church interiors.

The concert has free seating and is open to all ages.

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