Elliott Carter’s
longevity is remarkable, but his musical longevity is simply
astounding, as these four recent-ish works, all written when
the composer was past ninety, amply demonstrate. His recent
music is by no means “an old man’s music”, happy to follow well-oiled
grooves. Quite the contrary, for the composer still succeeds
in taking his staunchest admirers by surprise. Of course, the
intellectual grip on the compositional process is as strong
as ever, but the music now displays the composer’s endless imagination,
resourcefulness and hard-won freedom, with a considerably enlarged
expressive palette that ultimately makes his recent music more
accessible. At the same time it retains the high level of technical
and formal complexity that characterises Carter’s music and
that still challenges his performers. That one may now forget
the intricate music-making to focus on the music itself clearly
highlights Carter’s absolute mastery. In an interview with Felix
Meyer reprinted in the insert notes for ECM 1848/9 (reviewed
here some time ago), Carter said that “when [I hear] a work
like the Double Concerto, I realise that I could
never write anything like that now ... I wouldn’t have the patience
to go through all those minutiae”. He is of course quite right,
but this should not lead one to think that his recent music
is simple and more intuitively conceived than his earlier mature
output. It simply means that he no longer needs any intricately
worked-out planning before writing down the notes, although
he remains a fastidious workman that gives his music many a
thought before writing it down. Carter’s music is still difficult
- I do not think that any of his performers will contradict
this - but it now possesses a greater freedom that eventually
results in greater accessibility, as these four recent works
clearly show.
The most recent
piece here Dialogues dates from 2003 and is a
chamber concerto for piano and small orchestra. The title clearly
hints at what the music is about. This is a conversation in
which partners agree and disagree, contradict each other or
are obviously on the same wave length, with some unexpected
thought creeping into the conversation from time to time. This,
however, ends inconclusively on a low note from the piano. Nicolas
Hodges, who gave the first performance, knows the music from
within, and plays with remarkable aplomb. It is nevertheless
encouraging to see the piece now taken-up by other pianists,
such as Ursula Oppens, a dedicated champion of Carter’s piano
music.
The Boston
Concerto, dedicated to the composer’s wife Helen who
sadly died a few weeks after the work’s premičre, was suggested
by the opening lines of a poem by William Carlos Williams Rain
(“As the rain falls/So does/your love”). As a result, the piece
opens with a brilliantly scored pattern Allegro staccatissimo;
referred to as the “rain-tutti” by Bayan Northcott in his excellent
notes. This opening pattern and further variants of it will
re-appear regularly during the course of a work that ends with
yet another varied restatement. As might be expected in a concerto
for orchestra (Bartók, Lutosławski or Kodaly), various
groups of instruments are highlighted in the several episodes
that make the piece, the tutti sections functioning as ritornellos
of some sort. The penultimate section Maestoso, beautifully
scored for violins and cellos, is the real climax of the work
and is rounded off by a last restatement of the “rain-tutti”.
The Boston Concerto is compact and gripping, packed
with invention and imagination. It is one of Carter’s finest
recent works.
The Cello
Concerto is in seven clearly delineated sections, in
which the composer “tried to find meaningful, personal ways
of revealing the cello’s vast array of wonderful possibilities”.
The scoring is remarkably sparing and transparent, so that the
orchestra never obscures the soloist’s discourse. It opens with
a declamatory passage by the cello, soon brutally interrupted
by massive orchestral interjections, as if to stop the soloist
from the outset. The soloist resists and soon launches into
the ensuing Allegro appassionato leading straight into
a skittish Scherzo. The next three sections Lento – Maestoso
– Tranquillo function as the concerto’s slow movement, albeit
one with an animated central section. The accumulated tension
is eventually released in the concluding Allegro fantastico,
in which vehement orchestral chords again try to silence the
soloist “who signs off with an almost quizzical gesture”. The
Cello Concerto was first performed by Yo-Yo Ma; but is brilliantly
played here by Fred Sherry, who gave the European premičre at
the 2002 Aldeburgh Festival - with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Oliver Knussen - and whom the composer regularly
consulted while composing the work.
The ASKO Concerto,
a concise concerto for medium-sized mixed ensemble, is laid-out
in several sections played without a break and interspersed
by tutti sections that get shorter as the music moves on: Tutti
– Trio I (oboe, horn, viola) – Tutti – Duo I (clarinet and double
bass) – Tutti – Trio II (bass clarinet, muted trombone, cello)
– Tutti – Duo II (trumpet and violin) – Tutti – Quintet (piccolo,
xylophone, celesta, harp, second violin) – Tutti – Solo (bassoon)
– Tutti. Each episode is both a study in often intricate counterpoint
and a study in instrumental writing, in which the instruments
are sometimes used in somewhat unexpected manner, as in Duo
II. Here, the trumpet plays long lines while the violin “chatters
away in close-formation triplets” (Northcott’s words). This
recorded performance by the commissioning ensemble is that of
the world premičre in Amsterdam; but there already exist two
other recordings of the ASKO Concerto: by the
Swiss Ensemble Contrechamps on MGB CTS-M82 and by the Netherlands
Radio Chamber Orchestra conducted by Peter Eötvös on ECM New
Series 1817, both reviewed here some time ago.
All four pieces
here are supremely conducted by Oliver Knussen, one of the staunchest
champions of Carter’s music. Both soloists are fully in tune
with the music and play superbly throughout. Magnificent recording,
too, highlighting the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s immaculate and
committed playing. This superb disc is a major release and an
absolute must for all Carter admirers. Strong stuff, but immensely
rewarding.
Hubert Culot
for
details 
Nicolas Hodges (piano)a;
Fred Sherry (cello)c; BBC Symphony Orchestraabc;
Asko Ensembled; Oliver Knussen
