Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor
List Price: $16.98
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album


Buy Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Performer: Fred Sherry
Performer: Joel Krosnick
Composer: Elliott Carter
Conductor: Arthur Weisberg
Conductor: Helmuth Kolbe
Performer: Harvey Sollberger
Performer: Paul Jacobs
Performer: Charles Kuskin
Orchestra: Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Performer: Gilbert Kalish
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1992-03-24
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
  1. Sonata for flute, oboe, cello & harpsichord: No. 1, Risoluto
  2. Sonata for flute, oboe, cello & harpsichord: No. 2, Lento
  3. Sonata for flute, oboe, cello & harpsichord: No. 3, Allegro
  4. Sonata for cello & piano: Moderato
  5. Sonata for cello & piano: Vivace Molto
  6. Sonata for cello & piano: Adagio
  7. Sonata for cello & piano: Allegro
  8. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Introduction
  9. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Cadenza for Harpsichord
  10. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Allegro scherzando
  11. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Adagio
  12. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Presto
  13. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Cadenzas for Piano
  14. Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano & 2 chamber orchestras: Coda

Music reviews of Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

Music Review: The 'Bach' of the Twenty-second Century?
Rating: 5 Stars

Like J.S. Bach in his own lifetime, Elliot Carter has a reputation as an 'intellectual' composer, a stubborn conservative indifferent to the fashionable tastes of his contemporary audiences. Both reputations are just; neither Bach nor Carter made many concessions to fashion, and in both composers, it's the intellectual depth of the music that will make it perennially meaningful to future audiences. No composers have ever more systematically explored and expanded the harmonic vocabulary and theory of their eras than Bach and Carter. It will take some generations, I think, before the rest of us catch up with Carter's tonal brilliance.

So let me proclaim it: Elliot Carter is the greatest American composer ever. I'm not totally alone in that assessment, though others are less forthright about it. Despite being the composer's composer, however, Carter has never captured much 'market share' of popular audience. One reason, I think, is that he offers very little mystique - no transcendental bells and whistles - very little managed care for the emotions, and hardly anything you could dance to. So what is Elliot Carter's music about? Like Bach's Art of Fugue, Carter's music is about the possibilities of music.

The three compositions on this CD are ravishingly beautiful music for the mind as well as the ears. The oldest of them, the Sonata for Cello and Piano (1948), starts from the realization that the two instruments are utterly dissimilar in their sonic capabilities. Carter sends each of them on a high-energy exploration of those capabilities, probing their harmonics and dynamics. Both parts are extremely virtuosic; they were regarded as unplayable when first published, a notion that cellist Joel Krosnick and pianist Paul Jacobs put to rest.

The Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord (1952) marks a transition in Carter's work from his excitement over the still-uncharted possibilities of harmony and tonality to a new excitement over the rhythmic 'opportunities' of European music to incorporate influences from jazz, from Asian, and from Indian music. Just as he spent the first half of his long career exploring pitches and scales, Carter has spent the second half extending the rhythmic vocabulary of his music. One of the hallmarks of his later style is the use of polyrhythms and the assignment of quite distinct rhythms to different instruments of his ensembles. His Double Concerto, recorded on this CD, is a percussionist's idea of paradise, a summa theologica of counter rhythms and percussive uses of silence.

Two of the compositions on this CD include prominent parts for harpsichord. The Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras is exactly as unique and inventive as its name suggests. Carter treats the harpsichord not as a precursor of the piano but as a radically different instrument, with its own proper timbres and touch. The harpsichord played here is NOT a copy of a Baroque instrument; it's a hopped-up modern machine with all sorts of registers, hard and soft plectra, couplings, etc. Be sure you have good separation on your sound system for this piece of music. The spatial relations between the two orchestras and the two keyboards are an exciting feature of the sound.

Elliot Carter was born in 1908. At last notice, he is still composing. To speak of the two 50-year halves of his career is not an exaggeration. If you've never or seldom listened to Carter's music, this CD will be a fine introduction to it. The performers' enthusiasm can be heard in every passage. If you already know and enjoy Carter's string quartet or symphonic music, you'll find these three pieces representative of his most original art.

General CDs

Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Debussy: Clair de lune & Other Piano Favourites ImageDebussy: Clair de lune & Other Piano Favourites
Release date: 2004-05-18; Music CD
Best price: $5.59
Price in other shops: $8.99
My Christmas ImageAndrea Bocelli - My Christmas
Andrea; Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops: $18.98
The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe ImageThe Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe
Release date: 2003-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $6.54
Price in other shops: $11.98
Bach: The 6 Unaccompanied Cello Suites ImageBach: The 6 Unaccompanied Cello Suites
Sony; Release date: 2006-06-06; Music CD
Best price: $10.60
Price in other shops: $15.99
The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere ImageAndrea Bocelli - The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere
Andrea; Release date: 2007-10-30; Music CD
Best price: $8.48
Price in other shops: $18.98
Andrea Bocelli: Vivere - Live in Tuscany [Blu-ray] ImageAndrea Bocelli: Vivere - Live in Tuscany [Blu-ray]
Andrea; Release date: 2009-06-02; DVD
Best price: $17.50
Price in other shops: $34.98
Mendelssohn: Piano Trios Op 49 Op 66 ImageYo-Yo Ma - Mendelssohn: Piano Trios Op 49 Op 66
Release date: 2010-02-02; Music CD
Best price: $10.19
Price in other shops: $13.98
An Evening With Il Divo-Live In Barcelona (CD/DVD) ImageIl Divo - An Evening With Il Divo-Live In Barcelona (CD/ DVD)
Release date: 2009-12-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $18.98
David Garrett ImageDavid Garrett - David Garrett
GARRETT,DAVID; Release date: 2009-06-02; Music CD
Best price: $6.64
Price in other shops: $13.98
The Canadian Tenors ImageThe Canadian Tenors - The Canadian Tenors
Release date: 2009-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops: $16.98
Similar CDs
The Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 1: Vocal Works (1975-1981) ImageThe Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 1: Vocal Works (1975-1981)
Release date: 1993-02-19; Music CD
Best price: $12.08
Price in other shops: $16.99
Nonesuch Retrospective ImageElliott Carter - Nonesuch Retrospective
Release date: 2009-02-24; Music CD
Best price: $21.31
Price in other shops: $29.98
The Music of Elliott Carter, Volume Five - Nine Compositions (1994-2002) ImageThe Music of Elliott Carter, Volume Five - Nine Compositions (1994-2002)
Release date: 2002-06-01; Music CD
Best price: $12.51
Price in other shops: $16.99
Elliott Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras; Var?se: Deserts; Ecuatorial; Hyperprism ImageElliott Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras; Var?se: Deserts; Ecuatorial; Hyperprism
Sony; Release date: 1995-12-05; Music CD
Best price: $5.48
Price in other shops: $7.99
Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions ImageElliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions
Release date: 2005-06-14; Music CD
Best price: $2.68
Price in other shops: $6.98
Elliott Carter: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 and 4 ImageCarter, Pacifica Quartet - Elliott Carter: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 and 4
Release date: 2009-02-24; Music CD
Best price: $5.63
Price in other shops: $8.99
Elliott Carter: 100th Anniversary Release - Mosaic, Dialogues, Enchanted Preludes, Scrivo In Vento (CD + DVD) ImageNew Music Concerts Ensemble - Elliott Carter: 100th Anniversary Release - Mosaic, Dialogues, Enchanted Preludes, Scrivo In Vento (CD + DVD)
Release date: 2008-11-18; Music CD
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: $9.98
Carter: Oboe Concerto, Esprit Rude - Esprit Doux, a Mirror on Which to Dwell ImageTrouttet - Carter: Oboe Concerto, Esprit Rude - Esprit Doux, a Mirror on Which to Dwell
Release date: 2006-04-14; Music CD
Best price: $5.61
Price in other shops: $12.99
Carter: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5 ImageCarter: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5
Release date: 2008-01-29; Music CD
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Music of Elliott Carter Vol. 7; Boston Concerto, Cello Concerto, ASKO Concerto, Dialogues ImageThe Music of Elliott Carter Vol. 7; Boston Concerto, Cello Concerto, ASKO Concerto, Dialogues
Release date: 2005-11-15; Music CD
Best price: $12.78
Price in other shops: $16.99
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles