Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

[Franco]

This uses the two words I was going to suggest, thorny and dense. 

[sigh]

[Spotswood]

"Abstract," too, which is a puzzling one since all music is abstract.

[CRCulver]

In The Music of Elliott Carter 2 ed., David Schiff mentions that Carter walked out of a Chicago concert in March 1984 because of introductory comments by Leonard Slatkin that the composer found insulting. Is there any documentation of what Slatkin said exactly?

[Guido]

Not sure if this has been posted here already but I just stumbled accross this on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Ef2SnJVjaRg&feature=channel

Sounds like a great piece.

The whole concert is available to hear here: http://dch.berliner-philharmoniker.de/#/en/concertarchiv/archiv/2009/6/m19/

[Steve Hicken]

My review of the recent Bridge release is here: http://www.sequenza21.com/cdreviews/2010/06/carter-16-compositions/

[karlhenning]

Steve! Nice to see you.

[Steve Hicken]

Good to see you, too, Karl. How are things going?

[karlhenning]

Very nicely!  Lots of playing these past two months.

[Joe Barron]

Nice review, Steve. Thanks. I keep meaning to post one at Amazon. I like the Tintinnabulation, too, as well as the Pound thing, the Mad-regales, and the Duetti. Clarinet Quintet is taking me a while. Not as immediately appealing to me as the great Oboe Quartet. 

[bhodges]

Yes, nice review, Steve.  This looks like (perhaps) "the one to have, if you're having just one."  (Although the others in the Bridge series that I've heard are also candidates--it's an excellent cycle.)

Thanks for posting this.

--Bruce

[Joe Barron]

This looks like (perhaps) "the one to have, if you're having just one."

I think I'd still go with vol. 7. That one is loaded end to end with masterpieces. This one strikes me more as a collection (largely) of divertimenti, which would be a gist of my review, if I ever get around to writing a review. Not that there's anything wrong with divertimenti. of course.

Luckily for us, we live in a golden age, when both volumes may be owned by almost anyone.

[Joe Barron]

Mr. Carter's latest piece has just been listed at Boosey, as follows:

A Sunbeam's Architecture (2010) 11'
songs for tenor and chamber orchestra

Music Text 
Text based on poems by E.E. Cummings

Scoring
1.1.2 (II=bcl).1.-1.0.0.0-pft. perc(2)-2.2.2.2.2

As for the scoring ― Karl, wtf? I see two clarinets, one of which is bass, four violins and  two each of the  other strings, and, what, two percussionists? After that I'm lost. What's pft. mean, other than pfffffttt!? And what's with all the zeros?

The way Carter is  going, he'll run out of poets soon. I'd like to see him take on Kenneth Fearing next. 

[karlhenning]

piano (i.e., pianoforte)? I should have thought the t superfluous, though, and abbreviate it pf.

That shorthand actually suggests to me two regular clarinets, and the second doubles on bass.

And I'd read that 1.0.0.0 as one horn, no trumpet or trombone or tuba.

[Joe Barron]

That shorthand actually suggests to me two regular clarinets, and the second doubles on bass.

That was my first thought, too, but I couldn't understand why a chamber orchestra would need two B-flat clarinets.

[karlhenning]

Well, why not? We're not talking four clarinets : )

[Guido]

I'm surprised he likes ee cummings' verse. Will be very interested to hear this one.

[karlhenning]

He's always had wide literary tastes.

[Joe Barron]

Finally, the Concertino written for Virgil Blackwell has been scheduled for performance:

12/10/2010Carter, Elliott: Concertino for Bass Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (World Premiere)
Virgil Blackwell, bass clarinet / New Music Concerts Ensemble / Robert Aitken
Isabel Bader Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada

6/18/2011 Carter, Elliott: Concertino for Bass Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (US premiere)
Virgil Blackwell, bass clarinet / Orchestra of the League of Composers / Louis Karchin
Miller Theatre, New York, NY, USA

Guess I'll wait for the New York performance. Never been to Toronto, though. If Mr. Carter sees lives to see the premiere, he will be 102.

Then we can do that line of dialogue from Star Trek, where Dr. McCoy asks Sarek if he plans to retire because, after all, he's only a hundred and two.

[karlhenning]

God bless him.

[Guido]

Finally, the Concertino written for Virgil Blackwell has been scheduled for performance:

12/10/2010Carter, Elliott: Concertino for Bass Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (World Premiere)
Virgil Blackwell, bass clarinet / New Music Concerts Ensemble / Robert Aitken
Isabel Bader Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada

6/18/2011 Carter, Elliott: Concertino for Bass Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (US premiere)
Virgil Blackwell, bass clarinet / Orchestra of the League of Composers / Louis Karchin
Miller Theatre, New York, NY, USA

Guess I'll wait for the New York performance. Never been to Toronto, though. If Mr. Carter sees lives to see the premiere, he will be 102.

Then we can do that line of dialogue from Star Trek, where Dr. MCCoy asks Sarek if he plans to retire because, after all, he's only a hundred and two.

Sounds delightful!