for solo cello
World Premiere5/8/1995
Merkin Hall, New York, New York
Thomas Demenga, cello
Composer's Notes
The idea of composing a solo cello piece had been in the back of my mind for many years, especially since so many cellists had been urging me to do so. When Thomas Demenga asked me for this at my 85
th birthday concert in Basel (in 1994) for a concert he was giving sponsored by the Naumberg Foundation in New York, I soon set to work. Thomas Demenga had already impressed me greatly when he played some of my chamber works at my 80
th birthday concert in Badenweiler, Germany and especially by his wonderful recording of these works for ECM, New Series.
Figment, for cello solo, presents a variety of contrasting, dramatic moments, using material derived from one musical idea.
Elliott Carter
Reproduction Rights
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to the composer
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