Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

[not edward]

Years ago, Ross described Carter in the New Yorker as "the Max Reger of our time." I don't think he meant it as a compliment. Occasionally though, he shows some grudging respect or approval for a Carter piece.

It's funny reading things like that when even Philip Glass can bring himself to say "In fact, Elliott Carter is writing beautiful music today."

[karlhenning]

But strangely, he does seem to like Babbitt.

Makes him out to be a little Napoleon here, though ; )

[Joe Barron]

Years ago, Ross described Carter in the New Yorker as "the Max Reger of our time."

Elliott Carter is the Charles Ives of American music.

[Joe Barron]

Right, sort of a one-man Un-American Musical Activities Committee ... I've been listening to De staat once a day for four days running . . . and if there are any intrinsically European elements in that score*, I am missing them.

I've often thought that that nationality in music is a matter of biographical accident anyway. Other than some of the quoted material, there's nothing esp. American about the music of Ives, for example. But he has a unique sound, and since he happens to be an American, and we therefore think of him as American sounding. As I've said elsewhere,  his innovations have less to do with being American than they have to do with being Charles Ives.

If there is nothing especially American about Carter's Concerto for Orchestra, well, there's nothing especially Austro-Hungarian about Don Giovanni, either. Both are simply masterpieces. They define their time and place; it is not their time and place that define them.

Odd that Ross accuse Carter of Europeanness, too, since a) he doesn't really bother to define it, and b) Carter has said things about being an American composer that are much more fruitful  and enlightening than anything Ross has  come up with.  He has said, for example, that America is what we are making it every day, and that there are so many different kinds people in this country that we can't speak of ourselves as one group, the way people in other countries can. (See his interview with Charlie Rose.) Of course, Ross probably wouldn't give him credit for thoughtfulness, either.

God, I miss Andrew Porter.

[Joe Barron]

there's much which anyone who likes atonal music should be able to get along with... And how an intelligent listener could deny themselves the Orchestral Variations, the Concerto for Orchestra, Boston Concerto, the cello sonata, the piano sonata and the Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei just to rattle some off of the top of my head is beyond me. I'm a Carter enthusiast though (maybe not quite fan... somewhere between perhaps!)....

I don't know. You sound like a fan to me. 

[Joe Barron]

It's funny reading things like that when even Philip Glass can bring himself to say "In fact, Elliott Carter is writing beautiful music today."

Glass said that? Really? He's come a long way from the "crazy, creepy music" comments.

[Guido]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/22/philip-glass-nico-muhly

Just read it - He seems a nice enough guy. The pieces of his that they are discussing are so tepid though - really very poor stuff and its a bit embarassing for them to be talking about it in the same breath as Brahms and Fauré. And what's this about a Fauré piano sonata?

The cellist is the woman that he was having an affair with for a long time, which was highly embarrassing for all the musicians working with him who were friends with his wife. She is not all that great (and she says that one of the pieces that Glass gave her was "finally an equivalent of the [bach violin] Chaconne for cellists" - another embarrassingly jejune remark which betrays the sort of level of thought that is going on here.)

This to me is another thing that sums it up for me (it's from an interview with the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber):

I did have some input into the [cello concerto] after he sent me the first movement, however. He had written much of the piece in the cello's lower registers. This isn't a problem in the beginning because the orchestra is very lightly scored. But it becomes troublesome later when the solo cello has to contend with a loud and thick accompaniment. To remedy this, I suggested that the solo cello play one or two octaves higher in some places. This surprised him because he had no idea that the cello could play that high.

[Catison]

The cellist is the woman that he was having an affair with for a long time, which was highly embarrassing for all the musicians working with him who were friends with his wife. She is not all that great (and she says that one of the pieces that Glass gave her was "finally an equivalent of the [bach violin] Chaconne for cellists" - another embarrassingly jejune remark which betrays the sort of level of thought that is going on here.)

You can watch the breakdown of his marriage in this documentary: Glass: A Portrait in Twelve Parts.  Its very sad to watch, but otherwise the documentary is good.

[Joe Barron]

Lucky folks in Louisville.

[Joe Barron]

One other bit of news from Bridge records. The Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 8, has been nominated for Gramophone's Best Contemporary Recording award.  Bridge has never won one of these, according to David Starobin.

Awards don't mean much, of course — look at all the great authors who never won the Nobel, or classic pictures that never won an Oscar, or Pulitzer Prize novels that no one reads anymore — but recognition is always nice. Two other recordings have also been nominated, and I don't know when the final decision will be made.

[(poco) Sforzando]

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.

I'd like to know where that information on the Miller Theater came from. It's not listed on their website, and the Miller box office knows nothing about it either.

[bhodges]

It's on the League of Composers website:

http://www.leagueofcomposers.org/

--Bruce

[not edward]

A little teaser spotted on the B&H page:

The composer is currently completing a concise double concerto for the combined talents of pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and percussionist Colin Currie, due for premiere next year.

Carter's certainly slowing down from the remarkable production rate of recent years, but it's good to see he's still working.

[not edward]

sounds enticing .. & perhaps the premiere of the Concertino this Friday in Toronto will be recorded with everything else on the program for another Naxos release.

Indeed. If I can get a chance on Friday I'll try to ask Robert Aitken about this.

[springrite]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Carter!I have to listen to some Carter to celebrate. The Arditti Quartet #5, the cello sonata and some piano music will do.

[not edward]

Sadly Mr Carter didn't make it to Toronto for last night's concert--which was being recorded--though many local new music luminaries were here (I also noticed Oliver Knussen in the audience).

Everything on the menu was from 2008 or 2009; the flute concerto (Robert Aitken soloist, Virgil Blackwell conducting) struck me as another work in the manner of the clarinet or horn concerto--soloist playing alongside different parts of the ensemble before all came together for a rapid finale. One striking difference from earlier Carter pieces was that nearly half the work was taken up in a comparatively slow section, which had a stillness and comparative lack of surface complexity rare in this composer's work. I found this part of the work particularly compelling (as I did with the early section with the harp taking a nearly concertante role)--my only question was whether the shortish final passage resolved everything that had led up to it.

Tre Duetti was the violin-and-cello Due Duetti with an additional short adagio between the two pieces. I think this addition--stylistically somewhat remnant of the second Fragment for string quartet--improved the overall balance of the work, which now felt weight-wise of a level similar to, say, Martinu's duets for these instruments.

The first half ended with 9 by 5, an amiable wind quintet that reminded me in general flow of the ASKO concerto. The initial performance of it could probably have gone better, so it was a good idea to repeat the work immediately.

The second half began with Figment V for solo marimba, a slight work that was also immediately repeated. Unfortunately during this work and the first half of the Poems of Louis Zukofsky that followed, sounds of rehearsal could be heard from a distance, which left the performers looking understandably a little irritated. I've never really warmed to the Zukofsky settings, which have felt rather slight to me (in contrast to the roughly contemporaneous On Conversing With Paradise, which is by far my favourite of Carter's recent works).

The final work was the world premiere of the concertino for bass clarinet and ensemble, a short (probably under 10-minute work), with this time Mr Blackwell as soloist and Mr Aitken conducting. This was a rather curious work, much of it comparatively slow (I've not listened to Carter's Steep Steps in a long time, but I got the impression there was some material reused from it). It was to my mind most conventionally written and rhythmically simple concerted work I've heard by this composer, with some passages sounding to me strangely reminiscent of other composers (flutes floating over the soloist as in the Ligeti violin concerto; pesante passages of block chords as in late Xenakis). The work ended with a throwaway gesture--appearing to stop but then having the soloist playing the same note four times with long rests between--that fell rather flat. I would really have liked to hear this piece again, as I found it rather puzzling, but guess I will have to wait for the recording*.

Overall, a very enjoyable night, and I'll that it will come out on CD soon too, given the previously unrecorded material involved.

*Unless that guy in the audience who was bootlegging it on his cellphone is going to upload a decent-quality recording to the web.

[not edward]

Thanks for the write up Ed ... out of all of these I've only heard the Flute Concerto .. I have a live radio broadcast bootleg of it's premiere performance which is enjoyable. So are you saying that all of this material is going to come out on a Naxos recording .. just like the last Toronto event did?

I can't be sure if it'll come out on a Naxos recording, but it sounded like that was a definite possibility. CBC Radio is likely to broadcast material from the concert as well; if I get a timing for a webcast I'll post it here.

[springrite]

Here is a recent interview with Carter from last mth (11/10/2010) for those interested ...

(right-click save as the link below...)

Interview with Elliott Carter
by Paul Steenhuisen (51'03)



New Music Concerts Ensemble

Thanks for the interview audio link! 

[snyprrr]

I've been reaching an impasse with carter as well.

I have:

SQs 1-2 (Nonesuch)
SQs 1-4; Duo (Sony)

Symphonae; Clarinet Cto. (DG)

Piano Cto.; Cto./Orch; 3 Occasions (Arte)

Sonata/fl-ob-vnc-hrpsd; Cello Sonata; Double Cto. (Nonesuch)

Enchanted Preludes; Canon for Four; Esprit rude/esprit doux; Pastorale (GM)... guitar piece somewhere...

solo violin piece; Elegy; SQ No.5; Duo; 90+; Cello Sonata; Figment (or is it Fragment?) (Arditti)



I think that's it. I mean, that fine,... I've been trying various things new and old, and I'm just not getting all that excited. Violin Cto. Oboe Cto. Horn Cto. Piano Sonata.

I look at all the new cds, and there's many smaller pieces. I just can't see getting that one concerto disc on Bridge. Anyhow, what do you think?

[PaulSC]

I've been reaching an impasse with carter as well.

I have:

SQs 1-2 (Nonesuch)
SQs 1-4; Duo (Sony)

Symphonae; Clarinet Cto. (DG)

Piano Cto.; Cto./Orch; 3 Occasions (Arte)

Sonata/fl-ob-vnc-hrpsd; Cello Sonata; Double Cto. (Nonesuch)

Enchanted Preludes; Canon for Four; Esprit rude/esprit doux; Pastorale (GM)... guitar piece somewhere...

solo violin piece; Elegy; SQ No.5; Duo; 90+; Cello Sonata; Figment (or is it Fragment?) (Arditti)



I think that's it. I mean, that fine,... I've been trying various things new and old, and I'm just not getting all that excited. Violin Cto. Oboe Cto. Horn Cto. Piano Sonata.

I look at all the new cds, and there's many smaller pieces. I just can't see getting that one concerto disc on Bridge. Anyhow, what do you think?

Well, that's a lot, and it might be plenty for you. Of the pieces you've not listed, my favorites include:
Night Fantasies (solo piano)
Brass Quintet
Triple Duo
Two song cycles with chamber ensemble: Tempo e tempi; A Mirror on Which to Dwell

But I also adore the Violin Concerto and the Oboe Concerto, which didn't grab you.

Maybe try jumping to Mel Powell, whose best music -- String Quartet 1984; Woodwind Quintet; Strand Settings (voice and tape); Duplicates (two pno/orch) -- has much of the same appeal.