A long, questioning melody is played in harmonics on the cello, eventually joined by the violin. The opening movement places both string instruments behind the piano, which remains mostly silent. This spatial arrangement turns out to be very effective, drawing attention to the different realizations of overtones and resonance that in an electronic context might simply be manipulated and amplified. In addition, the string players move around on stage, taking positions behind and in front of the piano, as well as at the extreme sides of the stage. The work is in seven short movements, all of which demand extensive use of natural and artificial harmonics on the violin and cello. His piano trio Ossia: Seven Strophes for a Literary Drone demonstrates the same interest in the complexity of sound and in the harmonic components of pitch, but in this piece electronics have no place. Marco Stroppa’s first two works in the Festival relied heavily on electronics for their realization, a reliance I have found problematic. These were all later pieces of Carter’s, relatively brief, leaving behind a sense of rigor and austerity as they were completed. His playing was authoritative and rock-solid, with a clear attack and a presence that never hardened in loud dynamic, nor did it relent in quieter passages. Several times in Retrouvailles one would hear two voices entangled in the middle of the keyboard before scuttling off to the extremes of the instrument, and the individual lines were just as audible when they were jostling with each other as they were when they inhabited different registers. Aimard’s playing was absolutely excellent, the different voices in the music clearly delineated and characterized. Retrouvailles, the third of a series of birthday tributes to Pierre Boulez, is a more characteristic and extended piece, depending more on the skill and musicality of the performer to make the composition’s argument. In 90+, the music is structured around a kind of erratic ostinato, of 90 notes around which the music swirls and resolves itself. In the three tiny movements of Tri-Tribute, broadly different styles in the three movements provided the necessary variation to keep the music interesting. This poses challenges when writing for the solo keyboard. Listening to these smaller pieces, I was struck by how much of what I expect from Carter’s music comes not only from the characteristic use of pitch and rhythm, but also by his exploitation of voice and timbre among players. Carter’s output for solo piano is not large, and only the massive and infamously difficult Night Fantasies qualifies as a major work. More Carter, Stroppa and Lachenmann at TFCM presented three pieces of Elliott Carter for solo piano, Retrouvailles, Tri-Tribute and 90+. The pieces here were all small scale solo or chamber works. They were given an overview of the featured composers of the Festival, roughly in order of ascending difficulty, and although there were more walkouts and there was a restiveness not sensed in other concerts, a gratifying large number made it all the way through. Attendance at the Festival has been excellent, but this coupling with the “big event” led to an even larger audience. The third concert at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music on Saturday was presented as a “Prelude Concert” before the evening’s program of Beethoven, Carter and Brahms at the Shed-anyone with tickets to the later concert could attend. Pierre Laurent Aimard performs Elliott Carter (Hilary Scott photo)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |