Elliott Carter at 100: birthday events in the UK
(November 2008)
The UK has saved its major celebrations of Elliott Carter’s 100th for the month of the American composer’s birthday on 11 December. Events include concerts by many of the performers most associated with Carter’s music over past decades, including conductors Oliver Knussen and Pierre Boulez, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Intercontemporain.11 Dec: Boulez conducts Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pierre Boulez has championed Elliott Carter’s music for over 35 years, and brings the Parisian ensemble he founded to London to celebrate the 100th birthday. The Ensemble Intercontemporain programme includes Dialogues for piano and ensemble, with Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist, and the Clarinet Concerto which Boulez premiered in 1997. The concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall is at 7.30 pm and is preceded by a talk at 6.30 pm.
>Further information and tickets
11 Dec: UK premiere of Horn Concerto by CBSO
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo gives the UK premiere of Carter’s Horn Concerto on the birthday, featuring its principal hornist Elspeth Dutch as soloist. The concert takes place at Symphony Hall in Birmingham at 7.30 pm and is preceded by an introductory talk about Carter by Anthony Burton at 6.15 pm. The concert is a triple focus on the year 1908, birth year of Carter and Messiaen and premiere year of Elgar’s First Symphony.
>Further information and tickets
16 Dec: Knussen conducts BBC Symphony Orchestra
Oliver Knussen conducts an all-Carter concert at the Barbican on 16 December at 7.30 pm, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing music composed by Carter in his 90s, including five works new to London. The programme features concertos for horn and cello with soloists Martin Owen and Anssi Karttunen, the vocal sextet Mad Regales and Soundfields for string orchestra – both premiered at the Tanglewood Festival this summer, the world premiere of a new work Wind Rose, and Boston Concerto written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A pre-performance talk is at 6pm and the concert is broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
>Further information and tickets
6 and 14 Dec: Carter interviews on BBC Radio 3
In addition to the broadcast of the Barbican concert, BBC Radio 3 presents two major features on Elliott Carter around the birthday.
On 6 December at 10.30 pm Hear and Now presents an in-depth interview with the composer in conversation with Ivan Hewett, with topics ranging from his apprentice years with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, through the creation of masterpieces such as the Concerto for Orchestra, to his wide-ranging interests including jazz.
On 14 December at 5 pm Discovering Music has Elliott Carter in conversation with Stephen Johnson, guiding listeners through four of his pieces, Elegy, Triple Duo, String Quartet No.5 and Dialogues. Carter delves into the techniques behind his music, and relates stories from his life including dining with Varèse and attending the New York premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.
New Carter Book: A Centennial Portrait
A remarkable new book on Elliott Carter has been produced by the Paul Sacher Foundation and is now published by Boydell and Brewer. This lavishly illustrated large-format book, entitled A Centennial Portrait in Letters and Documents, draws upon manuscripts and letters in the Carter archive at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. Considering its richness of information and presentation, the hardback book is on sale at a very generous price of £25.00 from all good bookshops including the Boosey & Hawkes Online Shop.
>Further information
View a list of forthcoming Carter performances
Watch or Download a Video Podcast of Carter created for the centenary.
For further press information relating to the Carter centenary please contact:
David Allenby / Antonio De Stefano (Europe, Far East and Australia)
Sarah Baird (North and South America)
Jens Luckwaldt (German-speaking territories)
Photo: Jeff Herman
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