Carter times Three

Synopsis

American composer Elliott Carter has a reputation for writing some of the thorniest, most abstract and most technically difficult orchestral scores of the 20th century.

But for a few moments at least, during the opening of Carter’s Symphony of Three Orchestras, which had its premiere performance on today’s date in 1977 at a New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Pierre Boulez, audiences must have been surprised by an impressionistic, almost Romantic tone. In notes for the new piece, Carter admitted the opening of the new work was inspired by the poetry of Hart Crane, specifically Crane’s description of the New York harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge. Both those New York landmarks were a short walk away from Carter’s lower Manhattan apartment.

Carter’s 15-minute Symphony of Three Orchestras quickly shifts into his more recognizably dense style, however, and, as the title indicates, employs three orchestras on one stage, playing with and against each other at various points.

As the New York Times reviewer wrote: “It will take many hearings for the relationships of the score to assert themselves, though one can be confident that Mr. Carter, one of the most accomplished constructionists of the age, has assembled everything with pin-point logic.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Elliot Carter (1908-2012): Symphony for Three Orchestras; New York Philharmonic; Pierre Boulez, conductor; Sony 68334

On This Day

Births

• 1653 - Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli, in Fusignano (near Imola)

• 1820 - Belgian composer Henri Vieuxtemps, in Verviers

• 1862 - English composer Edward German (Jones) in Whitechurch

• 1887 - Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, in Oulu (Uleaborg)

• 1920 - American composer Paul Fetler, in Philadelphia

• 1926 - Austrian composer Friedrich Cerha, in Vienna

• 1926 - American composer Lee Hoiby, in Madison, Wisconsin

Deaths

• 1732 - French composer and organist Louis Marchand, 63, in Paris

• 1841 - Italian composer and guitarist Ferdinando Carulli, 70, in Paris

• 1924 - Finnish composer Oskar Merikanto, 55, in Hausjärvi-Oiti

• 1970 - American composer and conductor Alfred Newman, 69, in Los Angeles

• 1982 - American jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk, 64, in Englewood, New Jersey

Premieres

• 1728 - Handel: opera Siroe, Re di Persia (Cyrus, King of Persia), in London at the King’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Feb. 28). This was the first Handel opera with a libretto by Metastasio.

• 1792 - Haydn: Symphony No. 93, conducted by the composer, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London

• 1855 - Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1, in Weimar, with the composer as soloist and Hector Berlioz conducting

• 1859 - Verdi: opera Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), in Rome at the Teatro Apollo

• 1889 - Franck: Symphony, in Paris

• 1901 - Mahler: oratorio Das Klagende Lied (Song of Lamentation), in Vienna, with composer conducting

• 1904 - Puccini: opera Madama Butterfly, in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala

• 1914 - Ernst von Dohnányi: Variations on a Nursery Song for piano and orchestra, in Berlin, with the composer as soloist

• 1927 - Deems Taylor: opera The King’s Henchmen, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York

• 1943 - Copland: Music for Movies, at a Town Hall Forum concert in New York City

• 1947 - Copland: Danzón Cubano (orchestral version), by the Baltimore Symphony

• 1948 - David Diamond: Violin Sonata No. 1, at Carnegie Hall in New York, by Joseph Szigeti (violin) and Josef Lhevinne (piano)

• 1952 - Henze: opera Boulevard Solitude, in Hanover at the Landestheater

• 1961 - Elie Siegmeister: Flute Concerto, in Oklahoma City

• 1977 - Elliott Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez conducting

• 1982 - George Perle: Ballade for piano, at Alice Tully Hall in New York, by Richard Goode