Music, RIP

RIP Elliott Carter

I have come late to Carter’s work, having only heard most of his string quartet cycle in the last year. I must say that I was extremely impressed and really interested in hearing more. Carter’s music – at least his music of the ’60s – breaks boundaries – and perhaps that’s why it is most notable – but Carter was able to give this boundary-breaking some kind of emotional resonance that someone like me, with no knowledge of music theory, can hardly express. I don’t know how he did it.

But when I hear something like his first quartet I feel what I would call “the revolution”; the moment in music history when something changes forever; when we cannot go back even if we want to. And when I hear something like his third quartet I feel like I experience the joining of worlds; worlds that were never thought of as being similar until this moment. I feel like words are not enough and certainly my words here are not anything. So all I can say is this: discover him after his death if you have not discovered him in during his life. I will definitely strive to hear more of his work in the coming years, and I’m sorry it took me so long to know the incredible music he made.

Compositions:

  • Ballet:
    • Pocahontas (1938–39)
    • The Minotaur (1947), choreographed by George Balanchine and John Taras
  • Opera:
    • What Next? (opera in one act) (1997)
  • Choral:
    • Tarantella for men’s chorus and two pianos (1937)
    • Let’s Be Gay for women’s chorus and two pianos (1937)
    • Harvest Home for a cappella choir (1937)
    • To Music for a cappella choir (1937)
    • Heart Not So Heavy for a cappella choir (1939)
    • The Defense of Corinth for speaker, men’s chorus and piano four hands (1941)
    • The Harmony of Morning for women’s chorus and chamber orchestra (1944)
    • Musicians Wrestle Everywhere for mixed chorus (SSATB) a capella or with strings (1945)
    • Emblems for men’s chorus and piano (1947)
  • Concertante:
    • Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras (1959–61)
    • Piano Concerto (1964–65)
    • Concerto for Orchestra (1969)
    • Oboe Concerto (1986–1987)
    • Violin Concerto (1990)
    • Clarinet Concerto (1996)
    • Cello Concerto (2000)
    • Boston Concerto (2002)
    • Dialogues for piano and chamber orchestra (2003)
    • Mosaic for harp and ensemble (2004)
    • Soundings for piano and orchestra (2005)
    • Horn Concerto (2006)
    • Interventions for piano and orchestra (2007)
    • Flute Concerto (2008)
    • Concertino for bass clarinet and chamber orchestra (2009)
    • Two Controversies and a Conversation for piano, percussion, and chamber orchestra (2010–11)
    • Dialogues II for piano and chamber orchestra (2012)
  • Orchestra:
    • Symphony No. 1 (1942, revised 1954)
    • Holiday Overture (1944, revised 1961)
    • Variations for Orchestra (1954–1955)
    • A Symphony of Three Orchestras (1976)
    • Three Occasions for Orchestra (1986–89):
      • “A Celebration of Some 150×100 Notes”
      • “Remembrance”
      • “Anniversary”
    • Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei (1993–96):
      • Partita
      • Adagio Tenebroso
      • Allegro Scorrevole
    • Three Illusions for Orchestra (2002–04):
      • “Micomicón”
      • “Fons Juventatis”
      • “More’s Utopia”
    • Sound Fields for string orchestra (2007)
    • Instances for chamber orchestra (2012)
  • Large ensemble:
    • Penthode for ensemble (1985)
    • Asko Concerto for sixteen players (2000)
    • Réflexions for ensemble (2004)
    • Wind Rose for wind ensemble (2008)
  • Chamber:
    • Pastoral for english horn and piano (1940, revised 1982, arrangements for clarinet, viola and alto saxophone exist)
    • Canonic Suite for four alto saxophones or four clarinets (1939, published in 1945, revised in 1981)
    • Elegy for viola and piano, also version for string quartet (1943, revised 1961)
    • Cello Sonata (1948)
    • Woodwind Quintet (1948)
    • Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for wind quartet (1949)
    • String Quartet No. 1 (1951)
    • Sonata for flute, oboe, cello, and harpsichord (1952)
    • String Quartet No. 2 (1959)
    • Canon for 3 (1971)
    • String Quartet No. 3 (1971)
    • Brass Quintet (1974)
    • Duo for violin and piano (1974)
    • Birthday Fanfare for three trumpets, vibraphone, and glockenspiel (1978)
    • Triple Duo (1983)
    • Esprit rude/esprit doux for flute and clarinet (1984)
    • Canon for 4 (1984)
    • String Quartet No. 4 (1986)
    • Enchanted Preludes for flute and cello (1988)
    • Con leggerezza pensosa for clarinet, violin, and cello (1990)
    • Quintet for piano and winds (1991)
    • Trilogy for oboe and harp (1992):
      • Bariolage for harp
      • Inner Song for oboe
      • Immer Neu for oboe and harp
    • Esprit rude/esprit doux II for flute, clarinet, and marimba (1994)
    • Fragment I for string quartet (1994)
    • String Quartet No. 5 (1995)
    • Luimen for ensemble (1997)
    • Quintet for piano and string quartet (1997)
    • Fragment II for string quartet (1999)
    • Oboe Quartet, for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (2001)
    • Hiyoku for two clarinets (2001)
    • Au Quai for bassoon and viola (2002)
    • Call for two trumpets and horn (2003)
    • Clarinet Quintet (2007)
    • Tintinnabulation for percussion sextet (2008)
    • Tre Duetti for violin and cello (2008, 2009)
      • Duettone
      • Adagio
      • Duettino
    • Nine by Five for wind quintet (2009)
    • Trije glasbeniki for flute, bass clarinet, and harp (2011)
    • String Trio (2011)
    • Double Trio for trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, violin and cello (2011)
    • Rigmarole for cello and bass clarinet (2011)
    • Epigrams for violin, cello, and piano (2012)
  • Voice:
    • My Love Is in a Light Attire for voice and piano (1928)
    • Tell Me Where Is Fancy Bred for voice and guitar (1938)
    • A Mirror on Which to Dwell for soprano and ensemble (1975)
    • Syringa for mezzo-soprano, bass-baritone, guitar, and ensemble (1978)
    • Three Poems of Robert Frost for baritone and ensemble (1942, orchestrated 1980)
    • In Sleep, in Thunder for tenor and ensemble (1981)
    • Of Challenge and of Love for soprano and piano (1994)
    • Tempo e Tempi for soprano, oboe, clarinet, violin, and cello (1998–99)
    • Of Rewaking for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2002)
    • In the Distances of Sleep for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (2006)
    • Mad Regales for six solo voices (2007)
    • La Musique for solo voice (2007)
    • Poems of Louis Zukofsky (2008) for mezzo-soprano and clarinet
    • On Conversing with Paradise (2008) for baritone and chamber orchestra
    • What Are Years (2009) for soprano and chamber orchestra
    • A Sunbeam’s Architecture (2010) for tenor and chamber orchestra
    • Three Explorations (2011) for bass-baritone, winds, and brass
  • Piano:
    • Piano Sonata (1945–46)
    • Night Fantasies (1980)
    • 90+ (1994)
    • Two Diversions (1999)
    • Retrouvailles (2000)
    • Two Thoughts about the Piano (2005–06)
      • “Intermittences”
      • “Caténaires”
    • Tri-Tribute (2007–08)
      • “Sistribute”
      • “Fratribute”
      • “Matribute”
  • Solo instrumental:
    • Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (1949/66)
    • Changes for guitar (1983)
    • Scrivo in Vento for flute (1991)
    • Gra for clarinet, also version for trombone (1994)
    • Figment for cello (1994)
    • A 6-letter Letter for English horn (1996)
    • Shard for guitar (1997)
    • Four Lauds for solo violin (1999, 1984, 2000, 1999)
      • “Statement – Remembering Aaron”
      • “Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi”
      • “Rhapsodic Musings”
      • “Fantasy – Remembering Roger”
    • Figment II for cello (2001)
    • Steep Steps for bass clarinet (2001)
    • Retracing for bassoon (2002)
    • HBHH for oboe (2007)
    • Figment III for contrabass (2007)
    • Figment IV for viola (2007)
    • Figment V for marimba (2009)
    • Retracing II for horn (2009)
    • Retracing III for trumpet (2009)
    • Retracing IV for tuba (2011)
    • Retracing V for trombone (2011)
    • Mnemosyné for violin (2011)
    • Figment VI for oboe (2011)

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