Contemporary Music in Evolution; 21; 1951

As indicated last week one of the works on this week's program will be Elliot Carter's Pulitzer Prize winning second string quartet one of the most distinguished American compositions of recent vintage and certainly one of Carter's two or three best works the quartet is based on an extension of various musical ideas and concepts that had been occupying Carter's attention for about a decade or so most prominently in the first string quartet and the orchestra variations. For example the so-called metric modulations of the first quartet. Are still an integral part of the continuity of the second quartet although less obviously so. In the later word the concept of metric modulation has become even more integrated into the writing. And what seemed at times in the first quartet to be to some extent an external notational super imposition on the music had become completely natural by the time Carter wrote the second quarter. It is interesting to see in the development of Elliott Carter's music are certain influences

and concepts have not only become a permanent aspect of his language but how they grow and expand and deepen from work to work. For instance the influence of Charles Ives. It makes itself felt in both of Carter's string quartets. And basically the same manner. Similarly the influence of the Casanova of the 14th and 15th century with its astoundingly modern sounding polyphony. This influence can be heard in both quartets too. And it is if anything even more pronounced in the second quartet. Perhaps some of you do not know about the artist's nova. Briefly it constitutes one of the most interesting periods of all music history. Coming at a time when music was moving from single or two voice lines into multi linear polyphony and when the language of music at least the language of secular music was being enriched by the invention of

most of our musical notational system. Something as common as the sign for a triplet for example did not exist at one time. As hard as it may be to be to believe that. It had to be invented just like anything else and it was invented in the 14th century and so were many of the other signs we used today. And these signs and musical indications first found use and what subsequently became called us Norma. Well these know notational devices naturally help to expand and broaden the musical language at a tremendous rate. And actually in retrospect much too hastily. But as a result within a few decades an extremely sophisticated and complex form of polyphony developed. Which sounds modern and complex even to our twentieth century ears. Some of the composers who were the leaders of the US know of a movement the new art in other words. Were Philip DeVito we

going to show you probably all I've heard about. Your stupid Lucio and Galileo Tebow and many many others. I can't go into a full discussion of this 14th century music at this time as much as much as I'd love to. But suffice it to say that this music even today looks and sounds very advanced and full is full of what we call today irrational rhythms. It's certainly full of symmetrical rhythms and the music is characterized by a total independence of the musical lines. All these modern characteristics curiously enough. Were modified and simplified in subsequent centuries. And it wasn't until the 20th century that such rhythmic complexity was really developed for partially entirely different reasons. But as a result very few people outside of a few composers and musicologist know about this remarkable musical development. In the 13th and 14th and 15th

century. Well Carter is one of the few composers who has been profoundly influenced by this early in musical development and has found a way of using it in his music in contemporary terms. Curiously the influence of. I use to connect up right up it at this point because I have so for entirely different reasons. I also was very deeply involved with irrational rhythms and total independence of lines or the total independence of simultaneous musical ideas. I just did not by the way know the music of the ass nova. Since musicologist were just beginning to unearth this music. You know I lifetime. Also I should add that when I speak about the musical I was in this context. I'm not speaking of the ides of the second and third symphonies which everybody knows but it works like these three places in New England. And the second string quartet and some of his other lesser known and more radical compositions.

Well these twin influences of I and our snow over make themselves felt very much in the second quartet of Carter. And in many ways. Without going into a lengthy discussion and all the subtle ramifications of these influences. And how they're used. The most obvious manifestations of the ARS Nova for example. Are the total absence of harmony in the second quarter of Carters and the complete independence of the four instrumental parts of the string quartet. This concert was I would guess confirmed and corroborated for Carter as it were. By certain works especially the aforementioned second string quartet. And in the kind of work we find the same use of super imposed poly rhythms and rhythmic polyphony. But there is an even closer resemblance between the two string quartets of Ives and Carter. Those of you who heard my program on the child's life quartet. Oh about

a year or more ago maybe call that I spoke about Ives assigning certain roles to each of the four instruments and especially to the second violin whom I even gave a name. Rolo. And you may recall Rolo in the quartet was the arch conservative. Who doesn't like and can't play anything this side of C major and can handle only the squarest and simplest of rhythms. Well not only does Carter assign a role character to each of the four strings in his quartet. But also guess who. The second violin is predominantly featured in regular and square rhythms. Is this mere coincidence. I doubt it. But this is not to impugn Carter's originality. These resemblances are superficial conceptual ones. And the music kind of creates by these means is wholly his own and quite original. Also where with the idea it was a

partially program magic and humorous and satiric one. Carter uses the idea in a purely musical abstract way. Nevertheless I can't help help feeling that the germ of this idea must have come from Ives or at least have been influenced in some way by his use of it. Here is how Carter expressed this idea in his own words. He says and I quote him. I regard my scores as scenarios. Auditory scenarios for performers to act out with their instruments dramatizing the players as individuals and as a as participants in the ensemble. To me the special teamwork of ensemble playing is very wonderful and moving and this feeling is always an important consideration in my chamber music. Justice Carter goes on to describe the first of Milan as quote fantastic

ornate and mercurial was called the second violin. By contrast as I mentioned before is relegated to keeping a kind of regular pulse going throughout the anchorman so to speak. The viola is quote predominantly expressive. And the cello is impetuous and closest in character to the first violin. Incidentally none of this is academically or literally maintained by Carter. That is throughout you know through the entire work but is used with freedom and flexibility and without rigidity. The instruments not only have these just mentioned characteristic traits but have certain into valid characteristics as well. For instance the first a violin part consists predominantly of minor and major thirds. The viola mostly of diminished fifths or tri tones. The cello on the other hand specializes in fourth and minor sixth and so on. And to

delineate the personality traits of the four instruments further. Apart are. Fashioned a form specifically geared to this purpose. The main features of this form are for solo cadenza there's one for each player. Which link the four movements of the work. The homework is then bracketed by an introduction and the conclusion which uses basically the same material. Since the movements are played without interruption. And since once again Carter is not obviously rigid about this. Formal scheme. Some of you will have difficulties following the quartets course. Here then is the basic outline. It may help a little bit to orient you now and again during the listening. First we have the introduction second. And I like it a fantastical. Mainly for the first violin and the one that he calls ornate and testicle material. This is followed by a viola cadenza

which leads directly into the second movement. But I still Scout sandal. Here the second violin almost deliberately deliberately maintains its strict much like rhythms. I can answer for cello follows. And that leads to an undone to perceive which is the third movement and the perceive all movement is naturally dominated by the viola. Then the first violin has its good answer. And this is followed by the fourth movement and that is followed in turn by the conclusion. So in fact you end up with nine sections of music all played without interruption. In the fourth movement and I will. The four instruments which had been kept musically apart Up until that time. Are allowed by the composer to come together in concert so to speak. And at the climax of this movement they converge into one single thick cluster each musical idea.

This is a marvelous moment in the work. And is usually very clear and striking in live performances. And I'm sorry to report that in the recording made by the Juilliard Quartet. The engineering is such as to even out all the dynamic levels of the work. What I mean is that this climax for example is the only consistently fortissimo passage of any length in the work. Previous to this moment loud notes occur but they are isolated and more in the nature of momentary interjections and much of the previous material before that climax is very soft and quiet. But in this recording the engineers. Brought up the level of all the earlier movements without correspondingly raising the last movement and its climax. That's in a way the whole point of the piece is lost or at least obscured. And in any case the dynamic continuity is seriously affected. As a result you may have some trouble catching this

climax at least from maybe the dynamic point of view but perhaps you'll be able to recognize it by the turbulence and frenzy of this climactic passage. Except for this engineering defect the performance is quite remarkable and I must say that Julian its cover themselves with glory in this performance. The quartet Needless to say is extremely difficult to play. And they play with as much accuracy as one can possibly expect and the basic character delineation of the work is so perhaps not the ultimate ideal yet certainly very close. Needless to say it is also difficult music from the listener's point of view. Most listeners anyway or. Superficial or partial listening will not work in this piece. But I trust that that comment is really not necessary anymore on this program since either those listeners who are still with me already know that contemporary music takes concentrated listening or else they've given up in disgust and have stopped listening.

Anyhow here now is Elliot Carter's second string quartet composed in one thousand fifty nine as played by the Juilliard Quartet. OK.

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And that was Elliot cutters a second string quartet.

As played by the Juilliard string quartet. Robert Mann and Isidore Cohn Milans. Rough ill hit you know Viola and class on cello. As the other work on this program I'd like to play a work of my own. The seven studies on scenes of Paul Klee. This is probably my most often played work undoubtedly because it is the most easy to listen to what works. And because of the extramusical association with paintings in this case six paintings and one thing drawing by the famous Swiss artist Paul clay. Since the piece is fairly accessible even on a first hearing. Especially in comparison to some of the advanced and complex music I've been playing on my series recently. The music itself will not require much elicitation or comment. I would like however to say something about my intentions in this work as I think they can be easily misunderstood. Most people will automatically associate

this piece and its pictorial analogies with some sort of ski's Pictures at an exhibition. This was not quite my intention. Or at least my approach to the work was not only based on a sort of tonal impressionism or tone painting. What I was primarily interested in doing was to relate my music structurally and formally to the structural and formal aspects of the clay paintings I chose. This seemed possible to me because clearly used musical homo principles and ideas in his art all his life. Clay in fact was planning to become a professional musician. And only at age 19 did he decide to devote himself to painting. But he continued to play chamber music most of his life. And early in his career he already became very interested in transplanting certain musical ideas to the realm of pictorial eye. The most common organizational procedures he borrowed from music were such forms as the few. The variational

principle and various rhythmic uses of color or of shapes and so on. It seemed reasonable to translate it into music then the these pictorial structural elements which originally had come from music. And this is what I attempted to do. Naturally. Varying the degree or character of this music to painting relationship in each of the seven studies. In some cases the analogies are more readily discernible than in others. And I should also add that just as Clay's paintings are not merely abstract not just abstract. But also have a representation or content. Often a witty or satirical one. So also I felt that my music must reflect that side of Clay's works as well. Therefore there is also a relationship to the ideational content or let us say the subject matter of each corresponding painting. So much for the general approach I think I'll only add a sentence or two now prior to each of the

seven movements. Without you seeing the paintings I cannot do very much more to elucidate the structural relationships and especially except in one or two cases perhaps. The first piece was inspired by Claes painting called out of Cologne which is translated as antique harmonies and is one of Clay's variational studies consisting of variations on squares or blocks. The shapes and colors vary and the color relationships give the whole abstraction a larger formal outline. Interpretable as a dynamic outline. So I too used block like structures in my music piled up on top of each other and varied in instrumental color and size and related to the dynamic outline of Clay's work. There are other more subtle relationships as well but this should suffice for the moment. The second clay work is called abstract this that set. Abstract trail.

Here the abstraction of the trio idea was done in terms of isolating a number of instrumental trios from the rest of the orchestra and using them at first in succession and then finally at the end simultaneously abstracted trio. Of. The third piece is based on Clay's famous line a blood tie for the little

blue devil. This I turned into a kind of jazz piece. Suggested to me by the angular geometric shapes of the picture and the various shades of blues employed here worried about the performance. Mysa derived he and the Minneapolis symphony are not jazz musicians. So do not look for authentic swinging jazz that is those of you who know what that is. On the other hand you may be surprised at how far a symphony orchestra can go in relating to jazz. Mainly through notation. Little Blue Devil you. OK. I.

Will. The fourth piece is based on Clay's even more famous twittering machine.

This is a piece that really Twitters and I think. And it is a musical representation of a mechanical apparatus that sets into motion twittering mechanical birds. This time by means of the strictest serial organization of musical elements. In.

The next two movements I leave the village and an eerie moment. In the Arab village I used authentic North African scales. And this being obviously the only 9 and 12 tone section of the work. And I worked out fingerings and means of controlling the micro tones of ironic music. Also there are various musics and different pieces and different instrumental groups going on simultaneously on the stage and back stage you'll notice particularly the slightly softer backstage flute. All of which is unfortunately less apparent on a modern aural recording than in the life of forms or even on the stereo recording. I am a village and then this is followed by an eerie moment a title which should be self-explanatory. A. Eh eh.

Eh eh. On. The road. On. The road. Will.

You. And the last piece is entitled passed around and subtitled

rhythms by Clay himself. And it is indeed a rhythmic study. In shapes and colors and a variational piece as well. And he's one of Clay's works that introduces the idea of time the temporal element into painting an extra dimension. Since the painting to be fully appreciated or even superficially understood must be sort of read like a page of printing and therefore its appreciation takes place in time. Like music. The Pastoral title also suggested to me a romantic pastoral mode with the traditional romantic instruments the horn and the clarinet predominating. You have been listening to the seven studies. On themes of clay.

Mind Gunther Schiller myself. The performance where the Minneapolis Symphony conducted by Anton Donati. I'll be back next week with another in the series contemporary music and evolution.