Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

Started by bwv 1080, April 07, 2007, 09:08:12 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

bhodges

Thanks, Joe.  Printing them out to read later.  PS, I bet Levine and the BSO will do a great job on that Mahler, too. 

--Bruce

bwv 1080

Back to the Naxos / Pacifica disc, given that the first is #1 and #5 - will 2-4 fit on one disc? and if not what additional piece will Naxos add to the odd disc - dare we hope it is the Clarinet Quintet?

Joe Barron

Quote from: bwv 1080 on November 16, 2007, 01:56:33 PM
Back to the Naxos / Pacifica disc, given that the first is #1 and #5 - will 2-4 fit on one disc? and if not what additional piece will Naxos add to the odd disc - dare we hope it is the Clarinet Quintet?

No, we dare not. The Clarinet Quintet was written for the Juilliard, and I'm assuming they get first recording rights. The second through fourth quartets are each about 20 minutes long and would fit comfortably on a single CD, with room left over for the two Fragments for string quartet, plus the early Elegy.

karlhenning

There was elation in The Carter Corner in Boston tonight.  Heck, I even asked the maestro to autograph my program.

Joe Barron

#184
Horn Concerto Performed by James Sommerville and the Boston Symphony, conducted by James Levine

The BSO concert ended less than an hour ago. Karl and Maria just dropped me off at my hotel, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the Horn Concerto before retiring, while they're still fresh in my head. The Globe review and the program notes, posted or linked above, give a good description of the music's structure, and I won't waste your time by repeating them. Instead, I'll offer a few impressions.

Mr. Carter has nothing left to prove. He's produced his big masterpieces, and now, in his late nineties, he's reached the point where he can reflect somewhat and write light, witty, self-referential pieces like the Horn Concerto, which, in their way, are just as memorable and exciting as his earlier work. This new concerto is fascinating, not least for the scoring of the orchestra. Robert Kirzinger, who gave the preconcert talk, called it "transparent." I'd call it "feathery." Except for a few outbursts from the assembled brass or percussion, the orchestra seems to float above the soloist, whose round, bell-like sonority anchors it, keeping it in a state of equilibrium, like a gold ingot tied to a bouquet of helium balloons a few feet above the ground. The piece left me feeling bubbly, chatty, unlike, say, the Cello Concerto, which put me in a quiet, introspective mood.

After intermission, Levine led a rousing, luminous Mahler First, and I couldn't help but reflect on the distance between the two pieces---not in terms of style or technique, or even the entire twentieth century, but in terms of youth and age. The Mahler, finished when the composer was 27, is very much a young man's symphony, written in a fresh flood of creativity, when no excess seems out of place. It's calculated to bring everyone to their feet and send them home singing, and tonight, that is just what it did. It pushed all the right buttons. Carter himself went through a similar phase of discovery with his first quartet. Now, he  exercises his hard-earned mastery in more distilled form, and asks us to meet him halfway. The Horn Concerto is bright piece. It doesn't feel at all feel old or resigned. It just does more with less. It doesn't shout at us.

Memorable moments included a duet for the horn and tuba (recalling the tuba recit in Soundings), a chorale for muted brass, and the slow, full-throated solo passages that recur throughout the piece. And Sommerville was brilliant, as you'd expect, but the brilliance didn't  seem to draw attention to itself. We should hear this piece again, and often. Bootlegs, anyone?

not edward

*jealousy*

Joe, the impression I get from your report is that the Horn Concerto is stylistically similar to the Boston Concerto or the final movement of Symphonia. Is this anywhere near the mark?
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

karlhenning

Somewhat, Edward, though the Horn Concerto is lighter of tread, perhaps, than either of those.

Joe Barron

Quote from: edward on November 17, 2007, 07:36:49 PM
*jealousy*

Joe, the impression I get from your report is that the Horn Concerto is stylistically similar to the Boston Concerto or the final movement of Symphonia. Is this anywhere near the mark?

More the latter than the former. The orchestral accompaniment doesn't have the sustained "buzz" of the Allegro scorrevole. It occupies a larger negative space. It's more sporadic, with sharp chords and quiet sprays of percussion . There's also a beautiful moment near beginning the when a flute, or piccolo, plays a high, sustained note that seems more overheard than heard.

Joe Barron


karlhenning

Well, I know my way home better than I guessed the route to your hotel  8)

Joe Barron

Quote from: karlhenning on November 17, 2007, 07:34:11 PM
There was elation in The Carter Corner in Boston tonight.  Heck, I even asked the maestro to autograph my program.

Did he? You didn't tell me about this.

Guido

Looking forward to bootlegs or a recording on the Bridge label - are any more Carter volumes planned?
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

karlhenning

Quote from: Joe Barron on November 17, 2007, 07:48:31 PM
Did he? You didn't tell me about this.

Hadn't meant to keep you in the dark, Joe;  there was much else we talked of on the ride to Medford, the "Linz of New England"  8)

Joe Barron

#193
Quote from: karlhenning on November 18, 2007, 10:16:42 AM
Hadn't meant to keep you in the dark, Joe;  there was much else we talked of on the ride to Medford, the "Linz of New England"  8)
;D

Well, details, man! And how about your impressions of the new piece?

Guido, there is a Vol. 8 planned for the Bridge, but details are scarce, since, as David Staorbin tells us, it going to contain some historic recordings, and negotiations are still underway. I doubt we'll be seeing a recording of the newer work any time soon.  :'(

Joe Barron


greg

when he turns 100 years old, we'll have to have a huge party! Dress up as costume, like Cptn. Jack Sparrow and then listen to his Variations for orchestra over and over over and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and over again

springrite

Quote from: G...R...E...G... on November 18, 2007, 04:42:18 PM
when he turns 100 years old, we'll have to have a huge party! Dress up as costume, like Cptn. Jack Sparrow and then listen to his Variations for orchestra over and over over and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and overover and over again
Not a bad idea. Come to think of it, we should start organizing it NOW. If nothing else happens, I will have a small party here in Beijing, with just three or four people (minus our wives who can't stand Carter).

Catison

Quote from: springrite on November 18, 2007, 09:35:24 PM
Not a bad idea. Come to think of it, we should start organizing it NOW. If nothing else happens, I will have a small party here in Beijing, with just three or four people (minus our wives who can't stand Carter).

My fiancee likes Carter, and by that time, she'll be my wife!
-Brett

springrite

Quote from: Catison on November 18, 2007, 10:23:24 PM
My fiancee likes Carter, and by that time, she'll be my wife!

Good for you!

BTW, what is the exact date of Carter's 100th birthday? I want to mark it on the calender and start planning.

karlhenning