Recently I listened to and reviewed a horn concerto (HERE), and then I listened to and rated/reviewed a concerto for four horns (HERE). Of course, in the past I have commented on other concertos. As a matter of fact, the very first piece I reviewed on this site was a concerto, Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (HERE). This week I landed on a “Concerto for Orchestra” by Elliott Carter. So what is a concerto? A concerto is a musical composition that usually showcases a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra (though some feature two or more instruments). Typically a concerto is composed in three movements. Because Carter composed a concerto “for orchestra,” that piqued my interest in the history of the concerto. I found some information HERE and more – on the early form known as the “concerto grosso” – HERE. The “concerto grosso” was most prevalent during the Baroque period, and such concerti passed melodies between a small group of soloists and the full orchestra. The idea of a solo concerto (i.e., featuring a soloist accompanied by an orchestra) grew from that. So what is a “Concerto for Orchestra”? An article on Wikipedia (HERE) begins, “Although a concerto is usually a piece of music for one or more solo instruments accompanied by a full orchestra, several composers have written works with the apparently contradictory title Concerto for Orchestra. This title is usually chosen to emphasize soloistic and virtuosic treatment of various individual instruments or sections in the orchestra, with emphasis on instruments changing during the piece.” Late last summer I listened to a sort of concerto -- a piece for harp and chamber orchestra -- by Carter called “Mosaic.” At that time, I responded to an internet blogger's comment that it was “the worst piece of classical music ever written.” My review is HERE. Spoiler alert: I did not agree that it was “the worst piece” ever written. By the way, I found this information on "Mosaic," words from the composer himself, Elliott Carter: “Carlos Salzedo, the extraordinary harpist, who was a member of the small group of modernists that surrounded Varese and Ives in the 1920’s and 30’s and has remained a memory which I cherish. His unusual developments in harp technique always seemed to me too infrequently explored in recent times. So in writing Mosaic, commissioned by the Nash Ensemble, I decided to explore many of his exciting inventions to recall his friendship in the early 1930’s. The score is formed by many short mosaic-like tessera that I hope make one coordinated impression.” So back to Carter’s “Concerto for Orchestra.” I was able to listen to it early last week before my recent road trip to upstate New York, and I plan to listen to it another time or two this week. I will post my comments and my rating on the work soon. Spoiler Alert: This concerto MIGHT be in the running for the “worst piece of classical music ever written." Stay tuned! Okay, so now I’ve listened to Elliott Carter’s Concerto for Orchestra a couple of more times, and I need to write something about it.
I’ve heard people say before that it’s easier to write about something you don’t like than something you do like. Well, I don’t like this concerto, but I feel a bit stuck about what to say about it. I was hopeful in the first minute or so when the concerto opened – the crescendo in the snare drum’s roll, soon augmented with strident percussion and a shrill tremolo in the high strings, made me consider that a mystery was about to unfold, a noir-ish story to be told by the orchestra. But then the piece didn’t go off in any particular direction; instead it careened a bit out of control in every direction, as if every instrument wanted to blurt out everything it knew about the “story” all at once. It was quite cacophonous. Things settled down a bit about two minutes in; however, the structure of the piece at this point seemed as though the various instruments – all witnesses to whatever story was being told – just blurted out random “facts” or bits of information required to make sense of the “story.” It’s all too bad, too, because it did sound as if the orchestra had an interesting “story” to tell – it just needed better editing. Imagine reading a novel where the elements of the plot are all just tossed out randomly and haphazardly, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, with nothing in the right order. It wouldn’t take a reader long to toss the book aside and start something anew. Elliott Carter’s Concerto for Orchestra is just a clunky, discordant piece. It’s jarring, jumpy, and jolting. It’s noisy and strident, and whatever "story" it is attempting to tell, it all gets lost in the noise and the clatter. It does sound like there is a “story” somewhere in there to be told, but the final version by Carter missed the mark considerably. Interestingly enough, on the day I first listened to this concerto – with its mysterious drum roll and percussion at the onset – I heard another piece for the first time that opened with a curious and cryptic beat – and this piece piqued my interest at the very start and held it throughout the piece. It too had a story to tell, and the arrangement I heard of this work interpreted it masterfully. Interestingly enough, the piece, called “Remember Me,” or “Dido’s Lament,” is performed by the Los Angeles Flute Quartet. It is not a modern piece like Carter’s, but it has certainly been arranged with a clever and modern approach. If/when you get a chance, listen to it HERE. BTW: Info on “Dido’s Lament,” the aria “When I am laid in earth” from the opera Dido and Aenas by Henry Purcell, is HERE.
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How did I land on Elliott Carter’s “Mosaic” this week? The choice is related in a way to an online movie group I facilitate called Asynchronous Movie Viewers.
“Plan 9” played for years in obscurity on late-night television until 1980 when movie critic Michael Medved called it “the worst film ever made.” At that point, a cult classic was born! That line about “the worst film even made” got me to thinking -- what is the worst piece of classical music? I typed “worst pieces of classical music ever written” into a Google search, and quite a number of articles popped up. The first one I perused was this one, HERE, where back in 2009, blogger Jeffrey Shallit wrote this: “I attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, and while much of it was enjoyable (for example, Beethoven’s 4th) and all of it professional, there was one piece that I would nominate for the worst piece of classical music ever written (I added the underline): Elliott Carter’s ‘Mosaic’ for harp and chamber ensemble. It was absolutely unlistenable. When a cell phone went off in the middle, I sighed with relief: at last, some tonality.” Of course, others on his site added comments about their nominations for “the worst,” but I thought I’d start with his choice, Carter’s “Mosaic.” Why not? I'm going to listen to the piece tonight and tomorrow, so I'll have my comments and rating posted soon. Stay tuned! Oh, and by the way, my Asynchronous Movie Viewers group has added one additional movie to view and discuss in our "Summer of Terror" -- "The Tingler" starring Vincent Price. That movie scared the crap out of me as a kid. I can't wait to see how it holds up when I watch it later this week!
I can’t tell you how impressed I was with Aghakhani’s direction. I suspect “Mosaic” is an extremely difficult piece to put together as the individuals learn their parts, and her ability to keep the group balanced and in sync throughout the performance was nothing short of incredible. So did I agree with Mr. Shallit? Do I think that Elliott Carter’s “Mosaic” is the worst piece of classical music ever written? A drum roll please… No. I don’t think that “Mosaic” deserves that “honor.” I can certainly agree that this work is not for everyone for similar reasons that contemporary artworks don’t appeal to many (most?) people. It is avant garde. It is dissonant and discordant. At times it is jarring and jangling and perhaps a bit grating on the ear. However, I found it to be an interesting tone poem that paints an aural dreamscape, one that unquestionably evokes uneasy feelings and reactions. Last week I suggested that my rating for Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto might be higher on my scale were I to hear it in a live performance. I believe that this is true for this piece as well. I suspect if I attended a live performance, and a musicologist or student of composition were to explain more about this work’s score, about how Carter came to compose it, and/or what to listen for in the piece, I think my rating would rise. Early in the interview, Ms. Hobson PIlot says, “His music is such that I think that it grows on you. Upon first hearing I don’t think I was so infatuated with it, but the more I heard it and the more I played it, I began to understand it more and to like it more.” That was definitely true with me. The more I heard, the more I liked it -- or at least appreciated it. I wouldn’t say that this would be a “go to” piece to listen to when I want to hear classical music, but I would not mind hearing it in a live performance. So, what would I classify as the “worst piece ever written”? Well, earlier this year, I listened to and wrote about Jonathan Harvey’s String Quartet No. 4, HERE, and it was one of the few pieces which I've rated at the bottom of my scale -- so that piece would surely be a contender. However, at this time, I'd have to say Tchaikovsky’s “The Tempest” is the “worst piece ever written.” I’ll admit, I find Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” very annoying and Anton Bruckner’s “Te Deum in C Major” to be incredibly dull, but I’ll stick with Tchaikovsky’s work for now as the ultimate “worst piece.”
By the way, if you read my comments above about my online movie group and William Castle’s horror flick “The Tingler,” I will say that the terror I experienced as a kid when I watched that movie was not matched at all with my recent viewing. In fact, the movie is slow, and at times quite laughable. As a matter of fact, “The Tingler” currently holds spot #90 on IMDB’s list of “100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made,” HERE. By the way, Von Dexter is credited with the music for the film, and some of it sounded very reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann’s score for “Vertigo.” #justsaying |
A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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