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Elliott Carter

4K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  arpeggio 
#1 ·
Last week, at the Philharmonic concert, we heard Elliott Carter's "Holiday Overture". It was all new to me and quite enjoyable. I am almost embarrassed to say I'd never heard of Elliott Carter. Where have I been? I just did a search of the web and discovered that, last December 11, Elliott Carter was still living and composing at age 103! Will he be celebrating 104?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2011/12/11/143458177/elliott-carter-still-composing-at-103

Can anyone tell me other really good recordings of Elliott Carter compositions? Thank you.
 
#2 · (Edited)
The Holiday overture comes from 1945, rather a long time ago, though of course Carter's compositional style was fully mature then. I was rather taken with the piano sonata, roughly contemporaneous with the overture, when I reviewed a recording for Fanfare.

Bridge Records is recording a lot (all) of Carter's music and that series is generally very well received.

I can attest to the quality of this CD by London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen of the concertio for orchestra, violin concerto and Three occasions for orchestra

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Carter can be technically difficult to play and is, at the same time, nowhere near being a cult so, in my experience, people who record his music generally do so because they are committed to it and are disinclined to make fools of themselves by doing it badly. So, you're likely to find good perfomances whatever you choose.

There's a surpsing amount on Spotify (just search on "elliott carter")
 
#3 ·
Thank you, Jeremy. I have noted this so I can talk sense with the man at Archivmusic when he returns. That will be Tuesday since Monday is a "race down the highways to your doom" day. Labor Day, in other words. I often wonder why it is called "Labor" Day when no one labors.

I truly look forward to more of Elliott Carter and hope I read about his 104th birthday celebration.
 
#4 ·
Well done, Jeremy. You've covered enough to encourage @Hazel to investigate.

Carter is a 'one-off', @Hazel. There are several posts/threads on TC about the guy and his music, but your own ears have precedence.
 
#5 ·
It is nice to follow the oft-paraphrased philosophy "I don't know much about ... (fill in your own words) ... but I know what I like. Good to be that way because I can then create my own environment. Nothing worse than putting a book on the coffee table that you'd never read just because "everyone has read it".
 
#7 ·
That's true, but his most recent music eases off on the complexity front to some extent.
However, I never feel that the difficulty in some of his scores is (a) gratuitous, (b) unpalatable. When I listen to Babbitt, I have a really hard time to be honest, whereas Carter's complexity is, at the very least, exhilarating.
 
#13 ·
Hazel,

Mr. Carter's style changed radically during the 1950s and 60s, when he became one of the world's most repsected avatn-gardists. Much of his mature work does not sound at all like the Holiday Overture, and it might not be to your taste. However, he wrote a lot of music during his earlier, neo-classical phase that I'm sure you'd enjoy. The Piano Sonata has already been mentioned. I would look into his Symphony No. 1, his Elegy for Strings (which also has a number of other arrangements), the Pastorale for clarinet and piano, the delightful Wind Quintet of 1948, the ballet Pocahantas, and his two Dickinson settings or chorus, "Musicians Wrestle Everywhere" and "Heart Not So Heavy as Mine." If you're feeling a little more adventurous, I would also recommend the Cello Sonata form 1948, the Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord (1952) and the Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quartet.

Moving forward, you could explore the the String Quartet No. 1 (1951) and the Variations for Orchestra (1954) - and then all the other stuff that everyone else here has recommended.

I do hope you look into more of Mr. Carter's work. I know most of his music and have found it very rewarding over the years.
 
#14 ·
Hazel,

Mr. Carter's style changed radically during the 1950s and 60s, when he became one of the world's most repsected avatn-gardists. Much of his mature work does not sound at all like the Holiday Overture, and it might not be to your taste. However, he wrote a lot of music during his earlier, neo-classical phase that I'm sure you'd enjoy. The Piano Sonata has already been mentioned. I would look into his Symphony No. 1, his Elegy for Strings (which also has a number of other arrangements), the Pastorale for clarinet and piano, the delightful Wind Quintet of 1948, the ballet Pocahantas, and his two Dickinson settings or chorus, "Musicians Wrestle Everywhere" and "Heart Not So Heavy as Mine." If you're feeling a little more adventurous, I would also recommend the Cello Sonata form 1948, the Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord (1952) and the Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quartet.

Moving forward, you could explore the the String Quartet No. 1 (1951) and the Variations for Orchestra (1954) - and then all the other stuff that everyone else here has recommended.

I do hope you look into more of Mr. Carter's work. I know most of his music and have found it very rewarding over the years.
Thank you. I'll see what You Tube brings up. Or, B&N may have some I can listen to. Hazel
 
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