Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

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John, have you ever listened to his string quartets?  Quite worthwhile,  and they'll probably hold their own in comparison to any other chamber works composed in the 20th-21st century era--and as you know,  I have a rather limited appetite for most 20th century music.

I have them on 2 Naxos CDs played by the Pacifica Quartet; don't know what other performances are available.

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These represent his complete set of quartets.
Unless, of course, he wrote something in the genre in 2009 or after.....

Haven't heard them, Jeffrey, but I don't make it a point to listen to any of Carter's music either or most composers who wrote in the late 20th Century. Turn of the 19th Century through WWII, for me, produced some of the most astonishing music ever conceived.

[not edward]

These represent his complete set of quartets.
Unless, of course, he wrote something in the genre in 2009 or after.....

No further quartets; the only works for string quartet not included on the Pacifica recordings are the early Elegy and the two Fragments written in 1994 and 1999. (Paging Klaus Heynmann: those, the string trio, oboe quartet, clarinet quintet and piano quintet would make a very appealing collection weighing in at just under 80 minutes.)

[not edward]

Ivan Hewett's obituary in the Guardian (apparently some sub-editor was up late, posting this at 3:26am British time): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/06/elliott-carter

[kishnevi]

No further quartets; the only works for string quartet not included on the Pacifica recordings are the early Elegy and the two Fragments written in 1994 and 1999. (Paging Klaus Heynmann: those, the string trio, oboe quartet, clarinet quintet and piano quintet would make a very appealing collection weighing in at just under 80 minutes.)

What's the "woodwind quintet" included on this one?

Presto's listing of the works included:
Early Chamber Music of Elliot Carter
Carter, E:   
Pastoral

Woodwind quintet (1948)

Cello Sonata

with Barbara Haffner (cello)

8 Etudes  and a Fantasy, for woodwind quartet


Chicago Pro Musica

And are there any recordings/specific works you'd suggest for someone like me (that is, someone who has only the string quartets)?

[not edward]

What's the "woodwind quintet" included on this one?

Presto's listing of the works included:
Early Chamber Music of Elliot Carter
Carter, E:   
Pastoral

Woodwind quintet (1948)

Cello Sonata

with Barbara Haffner (cello)

8 Etudes  and a Fantasy, for woodwind quartet


Chicago Pro Musica

And are there any recordings/specific works you'd suggest for someone like me (that is, someone who has only the string quartets)?

The woodwind quintet there is an early piece; 8 minutes long and one of his last largely neoclassical works.

The quartets cover much of Carter's expressive range, so you'd probably enjoy most of his work; fitting some of the major works into place:

Most closely related to the 1st quartet: much of the rhythmic innovations in the 1st quartet are more comprehensive explorations of ideas first tried out in the cello sonata (1948)--some date back to the piano sonata (1946). These two works are much less dissonant than the quartet, though. The Variations for Orchestra comes from a few years after the 1st quartet, and marks the first orchestral exploration of these ideas; again it's probably more traditional than the quartet harmonically.

The massive increase in complexity between the 2nd and 3rd quartet was worked out in the three '60s concerti, the Double Concerto, Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra. If you "get" the 3rd quartet--I still have trouble with it, to be honest--these three should be right up your street.

The 5th quartet is one of the earlier "late Carter" pieces; the oboe quartet and clarinet quintet--both even later Carter--share the same sort of lightness of touch, as do some of the later orchestral pieces (Symphonia and the Boston Concerto perhaps being the standouts).

A good option for the earlier works (with some early '80s pieces in a style close to that of the 4th quartet) is this collection:
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An advantage of it is the Composers' Quartet recordings of the first two quartets which I find even more urgently communicative than the others I've heard (Arditti, Pacifica, Juilliard), plus an outstanding Double Concerto with Paul Jacobs and Gilbert Kalish.

The Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra I think are best served by the Michael Gielen recording on Arte Nova:
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Knussen's DG recording of Symphonia is also self-recommending.

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Otherwise many of the best late Carter recordings are on the Bridge label, though some are very miniature-heavy. I'd pick and choose according to what seems appealing; I think his post-Symphonia work does show a falling off in ambition that was only to be expected in a composer as he passed 90 years of age, but it's largely compensated for by a Haydnesque clarity and wit.

[snyprrr]

Ah, the day has come, and I see it on Yahoo, at the top. My first feelings are Maestoso scorrevole, a truly triumphal entry in the next world. He was my first brick wall,... tear down this wall! And the wall was torn down.

Come on, brothers, there can be no sadness here. Carter lived the life, full of unspoken myth. I have alreadly most certainly chosen his Elegy (String Quartet version; Arditti on Etcetera (NOT the Montaigne, please,... the Etcetera IS the most beautiful playing ever)) for my funeral, if there is one, but, this is no time to be sad. I simply can't hold back joy that I can tell people about the The Oldest Composer Who Ever Lived!

Wow, that's quite the giant shoes there. Bravo, sir, bravo!! And God spared you the Election, bravo bravo!!

LONG LIVE ELLIOTT CARTER!!

[lescamil]

The Oldest Composer Who Ever Lived!

Sorry, but Leo Ornstein beat Carter. Ornstein lived to be 109. The difference, however, is that Carter composed nearly to the day of his death, whereas Ornstein retired at age 97 or so. Long live Carter indeed! RIP, good sir.

[Concord]

I have been expecting this day for years, of course, but now that it has finally arrived, I am finding it  difficult to process. Here was one of the great lives of our time, cerainly one to be celebrated. There may be no reason to be sad, as snyprr says, and yet I am. I will miss Carter's preconcert talks and his birthday festvals. Most of all, I will miss the anticipaton of each new piece. At last this life could no longer hold him.  He required the larger stage of history.


Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

[Marc]

Somehow I thought that Elliott Carter was going to live forever.

Try some of the later works (if you haven't already), they are more transparent, lucid and easier 'to get'. Or perhaps try the Piano Sonata & the Cello Sonata.

Listening to the cello sonata right now.



http://www.amazon.com/Carter-Chamber-Quartet-Figment-Fragment/dp/B00004WKJ6/

[Joaquimhock]

For those who can understand French, here is a link with P.L aimard paying tribute to his old friend Elliott... (click on Archives to listen to today's program)

http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/magazine/emission.php?e_id=65000065&d_id=515003929

[springrite]

Not a sad day because he lived such a long productive life. But sad because looking forward to another new work (recording) has been a great pleasure for over 2 decades for me!

Now listening:
In Sleep, In Thunder

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Coverage of this is extending outside the classical music ghetto. I just picked up the NY Times, and there's EC's face on the front page and a huge obit inside, taking up an entire page. Even on Yahoo.com's front page, it gets mentioned.

Details perhaps, but rather interesting.

[kishnevi]

James and Edward:
Thanks for your suggestions.  As you saw in the Purchases thread, I grabbed three cheap and obvious CDs last night off Amazon MP; I'll keep these in mind once I digest those three. 

And I promise to keep a vigilant eye looking for Martians on the Naxos DVD!

ETA:  Edward, I don't pretend to "get" most of the music in the string quartets.  But I can hear enough in them to know there's a good deal of meat in them,  worthing chewing over and digesting.

[Opus106]

Coverage of this is extending outside the classical music ghetto. I just picked up the NY Times, and there's EC's face on the front page and a huge obit inside, taking up an entire page. Even on Yahoo.com's front page, it gets mentioned.

Details perhaps, but rather interesting.

I managed to catch the end of a news ticker on the BBC World channel with '103 years old' or something to that effect! (But most of the coverage now is focused on the U.S. election, of course, so I haven't yet seen a report, if there's one.)

[springrite]

Now listening, appropriately:

In Sleep, In Thunder


If 4 1/2 year old Kimi is reliable guide, newbies to Carter may consider Night Fantasie, In Sleep, In Thunder, Cello Sonata and Deux Esprit (sp?)
Kimi did not like the Quartets, even though I do.

[Concord]

For the record: the Guardian obit says that Carter attended the first American perfromance of th Rite of Spring in 1924. He did not. He attended the first New York performance. The first American performance took place in Philadelphia in 1922, with Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hewitt also mistakes the titles of  A Symphony of Three Orchestras and Sound Fields. Otherwise, though, an excellent appreciation.

[not edward]

For the record: the Guardian obit says that Carter attended the first American perfromance of th Rite of Spring in 1924. He did not. He attended the first New York performance. The first American performance took place in Philadelphia in 1922, with Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.

It also gets the name of Carter's 2007 string orchestra piece wrong, calling it Soundings rather than Sound Fields.

[snyprrr]

I am not finding anything in The Wash Post, wtf?,... where, oh, where?,...

Wow, it feels like this whole Forum is getting their suit out of the closet! I'm still full of verve over this, though. I'm just so excited for Carter, that he had such a seemingly perfect life,... he even LOOKED like a stereotypical 'real' American,... kind of Capraesque.

Maybe I'll start with the Cello Sonata...

[not edward]

I am not finding anything in The Wash Post, wtf?,... where, oh, where?,...

It's there: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/elliott-carter-dies-pulitzer-prize-winning-american-composer-was-103/2012/11/05/7a9c4e8c-c5da-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html

Plus a photo gallery: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/the-life-and-career-of-elliott-carter/2012/11/05/3fdbaf58-6887-11e1-8970-1c405b6eaeac_gallery.html

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http://www.youtube.com/v/NwbGXF8ZZGs

RIP Mr. Carter.