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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

But why is it so Long?: Eschatology and Time Perception as an Interpretation of Morton Feldman's 'For Philip Guston'

Manchur, Jeffrey M
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428440096

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, Contemporary Music.
The late compositions (ca. 1980-1987) by Morton Feldman are noted for slow tempos, a quiet dynamic, but most of all, for their length. The String Quartet No. 2 (1983), at approximately six hours, and For Philip Guston (1984), at approximately four hours, are the most extreme examples of his late style. Inevitably, someone listening to these works must come to grips with this duration; traditional modes of listening in terms of form and memory are thwarted. Christian eschatology, the theology of the future, meditates on the differences between human time and the eternal time of God. Considering Feldman, length, manner of composition, and perception of time can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of an eternal sense of time. I will combine psychological and philosophical approaches towards time to suggest that experiential time is essentially subjective. By using musical analysis, and eschatology, I will apply this way of thinking about time to devise a theory of interpreting the experience of For Philip Guston. It is my conclusion that the piece represents the state of the eschaton—the spiritual place where divine eternity and human temporality meet—by making use of nonlinear music (representing the divine) but featuring a structurally important linear motive (representing the human).
Thomas Rosenkranz (Advisor)
Michael Ellison (Committee Member)
Elizabeth Menard (Committee Member)
Christopher Dietz (Committee Member)
131 p.
Music; Theology
time perception; theology; eschatology; abstract expressionism; Morton Feldman; Philip Guston

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Manchur, J. M. (2015). But why is it so Long?: Eschatology and Time Perception as an Interpretation of Morton Feldman's 'For Philip Guston' [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428440096

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Manchur, Jeffrey. But why is it so Long?: Eschatology and Time Perception as an Interpretation of Morton Feldman's 'For Philip Guston'. 2015. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428440096.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Manchur, Jeffrey. "But why is it so Long?: Eschatology and Time Perception as an Interpretation of Morton Feldman's 'For Philip Guston'." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428440096

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1428440096
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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.