Carter, Elliott: Inner Song (1992) 5'
for solo oboe

World Premiere
4/25/1992
Witten Festival
Heinz Holliger, ob


Composer's Notes  
Inner Song, the socond part of my Trilogy for oboe and harp, composed for those great performers and dear friends, Ursula and Heinz Holliger, has as its motto the last two stanzas of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonette an Orpheus, II. 10. 



Aber noch ist uns das Dasein verzaubert; an hundert
Stellen ist es noch Ursprung. Ein Spielen von reinen
Kräften, die keener berührt, der nicht kniet und bewundert.

Worte gehen noch zart am Unsäglichen aus…
Und die Musik, immer neu, aus den bebendsten Steinen,
baut im unbrauchbaren Raum ihr vergöttliches Haus.

But existence is still enchanting for us; in hundreds of places it is still
pristine, A play of pure forces, which no one can touch without kneeling
and adoring.

Words still peter out into what cannot be expressed…
And music, ever new, builds out of the most tremulous stones her divinely
consecrated house in unexploitable space.

Each of the three sections of Trilogy was written for a special occasion. Inner Song, for solo oboe, was written for a festival of Stefan Wolpe’s music in Witten, Germany, in April, 1992, for Heinz Holliger to perform, to whom it is dedicated.  The fascinating friendship with Wolpe is a very treasured memory.

-Elliott Carter

Reproduction Rights:
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to the composer