On An Overgrown Path

Good evening, and welcome to this Britten Sinfonia pre-concert event , at which I am delighted to be joined by tonight’s conductor and pianist, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and soloist Tamara Stefanovich . Tonight’s concert, which has the theme Dialogues , is a celebration of the music of the contemporary American composer Elliott Carter who will be 101 in a few weeks time. We will be discussing his music a little later; but first, and rather perversely, I want to talk about a composer whose music does not appear in tonight’s concert. Benjamin Britten gives his name to tonight’s orchestra and Pierre-Laurent Aimard is the artistic director of the festival Britten founded at Aldeburgh here in East Anglia. In the speech that he gave when accepting the Aspen Award in the Humanities in 1964 Britten set out his vision of a holy triangle of composer, performer and listener. Today, particularly in modern music, that holy triangle sometimes becomes a profane duo of composer and performer, with th...

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat, K.449 Elliott Carter First Diversion Elliott Carter Riconoscenza Elliott Carter Enchanted Preludes Elliott Carter Inner Song Elliott Carter Second Diversion Elliott Carter Dialogues Haydn Symphony No. 83 in G minor ( La Poule ) This programme is being given by the Britten Sinfonia with Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano/conductor and Tamara Stefanovich piano in Norwich Nov.6, London Nov. 7 & Cambridge Nov 9 . In Norwich I will be giving a pre-concert talk with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich  while  Kate Kennedy is giving the Cambridge talk. Creating a spectacular habitat of sounds ... Curated by audio and visual artist Russell Haswell , who has presented installations for both art gallery and concert hall internationally, this promises to be a pioneering residency that brings spectacular sounds from the natural world to the Hoffmann Building . Chris Watson and Bernie Krause are both electronic music pi...

Olivier Messiaen and Elliott Carter have centenary celebrations on consecutive days in December 2008. I have already written my first post on the Messiaen celebrations, so here to maintain the transatlantic balance are a couple of lesser known CDs of Elliott Carter's music that are well worth exploring in his centenary year. Cedille Records is the independent label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation . Their CD Early Chamber Music of Elliott Carter (sleeve above) played by Chicago Pro Musica captures works from the transition period when Carter was moving away from Copland and other influences and finding his own distinctive voice. If you still think Elliott Carter's music is 'inaccessible' you will be delighted by this 1999 disc. A bonus are the excellent, but English only, sleeve notes from Stephen Heinemann. I remarked on the English only sleeve notes as contemporary American music has a big following in Europe. The Bad Boys II event in Bruges, Belgium...

'The earliest pieces that interested me were the Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, the Die Glückliche Hand of Schönberg and Wozzeck by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokovski. At the Metropolitan Opera I went to hear that, I think around 1927, I don't remember exactly when, but I went assiduously to all concerts of modern music and I disliked old music at that time. It seemed to me stuffy and old-fashioned. Sometimes I still feel that way. My musical life started with hearing and being fascinated by contemporary music. It was only later on that I became more interested in older music.' Elliot Carter (photo above) in interview with Alan Baker The BBC Symphony Orchestra's 2006 January Composer Weekend from Friday 13th January to Sunday 15th January focuses on American composer Elliott Carter , with three days of concerts, talks and films devoted to Carter's work, life and times. Celebrating his 98th birthday in 2006 Elliott Carter has been composing...

I'll be interested in American readers' reactions to the start of this review by the Guardian's Andrew Clements - ' Considering how much third-rate music has been included in Naxos's American Classics series, Elliott Carter has so far been poorly served by the budget-price label. But in the year of the composer's 100th birthday, this - the first of two discs that will include all five of Carter's string quartets - could be the start of a major addition to his discography.' Andrew Clements then goes on to write a glowing five-star review of Naxos' new CD of Elliott Carter's String Quartets Nos 1 and 5 performed by the Pacifica Quartet . I'll agree whole-heartedly with his verdict on the Carter Quartets, I bought them last week and they are superb performances of superb music. But I am not so sure about his other views. That judgement of 'third-rate music' raises the interesting point of should a critic focus primarily on the interpr...

From Beyond the Stave reports - Another interesting programme from our near-neighbour On an Overgrown Path on Future Radio , which will be broadcasting a (somewhat early) centenary tribute to Elliott Carter on Sunday February 24th. Once again those wanting to learn more about the 99 year old Mr Carter will be pleased to know that we have a paperback selection of his essays and lectures . Furthermore, in the Autumn we’ll be co-publishing an exciting new volume with the Paul Sacher Stiftung , Elliott Carter: A Tribute in Letters and Documents (exact title still to be announced) edited by Felix Meyer and Anne C Shreffler. More – including an early extract - on what promises to be a stunning volume in later posts. Available – as always – from a loyal band of specialist retailers . Read more about Paul Sacher here. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of ...

'In art what is interesting is the structure of evolution, the direction things take. You can talk about beginning, development and end in many ways but in my view the idea of development is the most interesting thing in life' ~ Elliott Carter , Literary works. Italian. [le traduzioni dei saggi di questo volume sono di] autori vari ; a cura di Enzo Restagno. Torino, EDT/Musica 1989. Now read about a standing ovation for Elliott Carter Sorry, the score isn't Elliott Carter, the painting is Le Violin rouge, vers 1948 by the Fauvist Raoul Dufy . Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Trotskyist, amanuensis to Elliott Carter, bon viveur , Renaissance man, friend of W.H. Auden, trailblazer for racial equality and early music pioneer - those were just some of the personas of Noah Greenberg who died on January 9th 1966 at the age of 46 after suffering a heart attrack. Today Noah Greenberg is remembered as the founder of the legendary New York Pro Musica and he is seen directing the ensemble in the accompanying photos. A self-taught musician, he formed Pro Musica in 1952 to explore the then unknown medieval and Renaissance repertoire. The photo below shows his 1958 staging of the 11th century liturgical drama The Play of Daniel at the medieval branch of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art known as The Cloisters . This production, which included a narration by Greenberg's friend W.H. Auden, was the tipping point for early music in North America. Later the same year Decca's bestselling LP of Daniel helped tip early music even further towards the mass market a...

One thing I can’t understand is why people have such trouble with modern music. It seems to me to be perfectly intelligible. When I hear one of my pieces again, or listen to the record, I don’t see why people could find this perplexing in any way. Yet audiences can’t make head or tail of it... I finally said the hell with that whole point of view and decided to write what I really always hoped to write, and what I thought was most important for me. I’ve taken that point of view ever since. That quote comes from Elliott Carter who has died aged 103 . I used it in a discussion preceding a concert of his music by the Britten Sinfonia in 2009. The text of my introduction, titled A Radical Traditionalist is here , and the discussion of Carter’s music with the concert's soloists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich can be heard here . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Photo shows Elliott Carter, centre, with Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland above.Any copyrighted material o...

Sex, drugs and rock and roll is the familiar adage. But this path explores links between sex, drugs and the music of composers including Igor Stravinsky Pierre Boulez and Elliott Carter. Our starting point is the welcome new Beethoven Symphony cycle from the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Giovanni Antonini for the German Oehms Classics label . For those interested in the history of the orchestra their agent Askonas Holt's website explains : Founded in 1984 by graduates of various Swiss conservatories, the Basel Chamber Orchestra now ranks among Europe’s most highly acclaimed chamber orchestras. The BCO is committed to cultivating the chamber orchestra tradition bequeathed on Basel by Paul Sacher, one of the most important music patrons of the twentieth century. Which is all rather confusing because Lesley Stephenson's authorised biography of Paul Sacher tells us: In 1926, [Sacher] achieved his first major ambition: on 4 November his Basler Kammerorchester (Basle Chamber Orchestr...

Elliott Carter is a superb composer - getting better and better - and he is 101 years old. From today's Guardian guide to the Aldeburgh Festival. Elliott Carter was, of course, born on 11 December, 1908 . Did I mention the author of the piece is Charlotte Higgins ? Report errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

'With a few obvious exceptions (John Adams springs to mind, as do Elliott Carter and Steve Reich), Britain is not conspicuously friendly territory for recent American music' writes Steven Stucky in a very well-argued article in today's Guardian. You are right Steven. The problem lies with our broadcasters and concert planners. They suffer from the American pie synodrome. If a composer's music shows any sign of audience acceptance we are fed such large portions of that composer's particular pie by the BBC and the Barbican Centre ( which are now, effectively, one and the same ) that we run screaming back to our own Thomas Adès and Malcolm Arnold . As reported here, it has happened recently with John Adams , Philip Glass , Elliott Carter , Steve Reich , and Osvaldo Golijov . We'd love to hear more of the many other fine contemporary American composers. Just tell the BBC and Barbican that a healthy diet is a varied one. When did the BBC last broadcast ' Americ...

As the G8 leaders discuss a global target for reductions in greenhouse gases in Heiligendamm perhaps it's time to ask how green was my concert? This year's BBC Proms features the premiere of Rachel Portman's The Water Diviner's Tale . As her publisher says , Portman is " known for her incredibly lush movie scores ", and for writing the score for the film that launched Hugh Grant's career. If we forgive her that, the The Water Diviner’s Tale is billed as " a fresh and innovative production exploring the hot issue of climate change ." Great to see the BBC putting climate change on the classical music agenda. But shouldn't we be more concerned about the greenhouse gases that are produced by a season like the 2007 BBC Proms? Here are the ensembles that will be flying, or bussing into London this summer for the eight week BBC Proms season, with their points of departure in bold. Chorus and Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome , Bach...

Thankfully not everyone is purring in their self-reverential reality tunnel . Later this year the premiere of John Cage's Scottish Circus is being replicated in the hall where it was first performed in September 1990. The replicated first performance is in the Concert Hall at the University of Glasgow on June 1st. Scottish Circus was commissioned by composer and activist Eddie McGuire for his group The Whistlebinkies who will perform it in this year's concert alongside student musicians. The Whistlebinkies have also recorded Scottish Circus together with 4'33' ' for new music advocates Mode Records of New York for future release. Scottish Circus was premiered during the 1990 Musica Nova Festival in Glasgow with John Cage in attendance. The Festival was a celebration of contemporary music presented by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) under the direction of the visionary and underrated Sir Alexander Gibson . At the time the legendary recording ...

1972 - Stockhausen's Carré for four orchestral groups is performed twice in a late-night Promenade concert, rehearsal shown in photo above. Other Proms include the first UK performance of Elliott Carter's Concerto for Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez and George Crumb's Echoes of Time and River. 2008 - Proms season includes Stockhausen's Klang (13th and 15th hour), Kontakte, Stimmung and two performances of Gruppen in one concert. There is also Xenakis coupled with Vaughan Williams , and four works by Elliott Carter including two UK premieres, plus lots of Messiaen and Vaughan Williams and a programme of twentieth-century music mixed with renaissance polyphony . (Wish I had thought of that ). Are things getting better under new Proms director Roger Wright ? Well, there is also music from Doctor Who as shown in the ridiculous BBC photo opportunity above, dancing round a maypole in Kensington Gardens, and musicians "popping up" on street corners,...

'For as long as I can remember, Saturday mornings on Radio 3 have meant Building a Library. The programme - nowadays part of CD Review - has been around since Third Programme days and is constructed on clear principles. Each Saturday, a critic assesses the currently available recorded versions of a classical music masterpiece and, after playing excerpts from many of them, nominates the winner. It is an impeccably Reithian BBC programme, designed to guide the average listener who is building a basic collection of classical recordings. Note the words - the average listener who is building a basic collection of classical recordings. For years, that has been the programme's fine and democratic purpose. But not now. Somewhere along the way someone has captured Building a Library, turning it away from its original - and to me still its proper - purpose and making it into a niche for specialists. So far in 2006 there have been six subjects in Building a Library: the Concerto Funèbre b...

'This reminded me that when Elliott Carter visited Keele University on October 17, 1977, he answered questions in front of an audience after a recital of his music. He was asked, "Mr. Carter, what do you think of John Cage?" and replied "I don't think of John Cage."' This quote comes from editor Peter Dickinson's introduction to CageTalk (ISBN 158046 2375), a book which I strongly recommend. Dickinson's English roots and the fact that much of the material originates from BBC interviews gives this Cage anthology a refreshingly cosmopolitan feel. The interviewees include Merce Cunningham , Bonnie Bird , David Tudor , Virgil Thomson , Karlheinz Stockhausen , La Monte Young and Pauline Oliveros . I will be dipping into CageTalk again several more times, meanwhile Cage is happening here and Carter here . Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and wi...

This year's BBC Proms season will go down as the year of the 'pick-up' band. The established professional orchestras were challenged, and in several cases overshadowed, by performances from the National Youth Orchestra and Sinfonietta, European Union Youth Orchestra, West-Eastern Divan, and World Orchestra for Peace. They all showed us that spontaneous live music-making beats the music-like-water output of the established orchestras almost every time. In the last week of the season Sir Colin Davis (right) conducts another starry 'pick-up' band , with students from New York's Julliard School and London's Royal Academy of Music playing a programme of Copland, Vaughan Williams and Berlioz. That's my Prom of the week, no contest. Other riches for the final week include new music from Ades, Carter and Turnage, and a Rawsthorne piano concerto that is well worth investigating. The mainstream programming concludes with a German Requiem , Rite of Spring an...