Carter, Elliott (1908 - 2012)

[Serial_Apologist]

Really? It's not just the silly photo though, the typography is really messy too, and the colours, and, well, I suppose it's a matter of taste but I find it hideous.

Now: Piano sonata, played by Charles Rosen. I haven't heard anyone else play it as well as he did.

Hmm - have to say I'm with Richard there: it looks as if Carter was being photographed in a corner of the stage at a Conservative Party conference - with appropriate shirt to match! I wonder what others think...

http://bridgerecords.com/products/9314

[Pulcinella]

I guess it could be better, you're right ('hideous' seems like a bit of an extreme description though IMO )

I have the Rosen recording from 1961 (is there more than one?) lined up for listening later... guitar practice beckons now...

The Lawson recording on Virgin says Piano Sonata (1945-6 revised 1962).
No idea what the revision consisted of though (or if Rosen recorded it again).

PS: Track timings might help you find out. This is from here:

Release Date: 7th Nov 2011
Catalogue No: 48281
Label: Soundmark Records


Carter, E: Piano Sonata (rec. 25 April 1961)
Work length 21:22

Charles Rosen
I. Maestoso
Track length 9:51

II. Andante
Track length 11:31

[smittims]

Yes, Charles Rosen re-recorded the Carter sonata in the early 1980s on EtCetera, with a more recent Carter piano work on te back (Night Fantasies?)

[Joseph K]

Yes, Charles Rosen re-recorded the Carter sonata in the early 1980s on EtCetera, with a more recent Carter piano work on te back (Night Fantasies?)

I thought that was the case. I'll see if the later recording is also on youtube.

[ahinton]

The Lawson recording on Virgin says Piano Sonata (1945-6 revised 1962).
No idea what the revision consisted of though (or if Rosen recorded it again).

PS: Track timings might help you find out. This is from here:

Release Date: 7th Nov 2011
Catalogue No: 48281
Label: Soundmark Records


Carter, E: Piano Sonata (rec. 25 April 1961)
Work length 21:22

Charles Rosen
I. Maestoso
Track length 9:51

II. Andante
Track length 11:31

I was unaware of a 1962 revision. My copy of the original Mercury publication was published in 1948 and that of the 1982 Presser edition states "Revised 1982"; the revision shows an estimated duration of 20' which is absent from the original but there appear to be few actual textual revisions (those that are present include some staccato markings on some left hand octaves)...

[silvestrione]

Hmm - have to say I'm with Richard there: it looks as if Carter was being photographed in a corner of the stage at a Conservative Party conference - with appropriate shirt to match! I wonder what others think...

http://bridgerecords.com/products/9314

!!! Yes, that is hideous...

[Bryn]

!!! Yes, that is hideous...

Hmm, why was Elliott Carter doing a Les Patterson impression?

[RichardB]

Hmm, why was Elliott Carter doing a Les Patterson impression?

At that age you can do what you damn well like, I would say.

Rosen's two recordings are not so different from one another. I also had a listen to Ursula Oppens's recording but gave up after a few minutes because it seemed far too splashy and uneven. Rosen gives the work the total clarity it needs. I also listened to a few other items in the "Charles Rosen Plays Modern Piano Music" set - the Boulez 1st and 3rd Sonatas which I hadn't heard for years, and the Stravinsky Serenade and Sonata which I don't think I'd ever heard before. Of course he's a perfect pianist for Stravinsky.

[Bryn]

. . . Of course he's a perfect pianist for Stravinsky.

Except for Movements for Piano and Orchestra, perhaps. The recording session for that work did not go well, it seems. Rosen was reportedly not at all happy with the results. Little wonder that it has had such a chequered history on CD, though the finesse of the repeat in the first movement worked reasonably well on the original vinyl release. At least the first three CD releases of the recording omitted that repeat.

[Joseph K]

I located the later Charles Rosen performance of the piano sonata and am enjoying it. Hints of Ravel and Bartok... I'm not too familiar with this stage of his oeuvre.

[RichardB]

I located the later Charles Rosen performance of the piano sonata and am enjoying it. Hints of Ravel and Bartok... I'm not too familiar with this stage of his oeuvre.

It seems to me that the Sonata stands out from everything else Carter wrote around that time, and from other piano music too in its use of resonances based on harmonic-series relations (Schiff writes about this IIRC). I'm sure Carter was thinking of Ives's piano music when writing it.

[Joseph K]

Anyway I've just ordered a CD with the Boston Concerto and Cello Concerto on (though I have a few weeks to wait) thanks for bringing these works to my attention.

This arrived earlier. Looking forward to giving it a spin tonight.

[ahinton]

It seems to me that the Sonata stands out from everything else Carter wrote around that time, and from other piano music too in its use of resonances based on harmonic-series relations (Schiff writes about this IIRC). I'm sure Carter was thinking of Ives's piano music when writing it.

Whilst Carter could obviously play the piano he was not what one would call a pianist per se (although I believe that he did give one recital aged around 17); you'd never know this from the idiomatic writing, though, which seems to display such understanding of what works well on the istrument that it has been a constant source of surprise to me that most pianists don't have it in their repertoires!

[Serial_Apologist]

Whilst Carter could obviously play the piano he was not what one would call a pianist per se (although I believe that he did give one recital aged around 17); you'd never know this from the idiomatic writing, though, which seems to display such understanding of what works well on the istrument that it has been a constant source of surprise to me that most pianists don't have it in their repertoires!

One understands similar about Ravel.

[Joseph K]

This arrived earlier. Looking forward to giving it a spin tonight.

Good stuff.