The Elegy is an early work (Carter was only 31 when he wrote it), and it exists in a number of forms. Carter did not specify that the Elegy had been written to commemorate a specific person or event, but it is suffused with an appropriately subdued and elegiac air. At the opening, marked Adagio sostenuto, the melodic line rises and falls over long contoured arcs. Though the fundamental opening tempo remains the same throughout, the music seems to gather energy and presses ahead to climax, then subsides to a calm close, slowly fading into silence. This concert offers the Elegy in Carter’s revised version for cello and piano. Jay Campbell
Classical Music | Cello Music
Elliott Carter
Elegy for Cello and Piano Play
Recorded on 02/10/2016, uploaded on 08/30/2016
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
The Elegy is an early work (Carter was only 31 when he wrote it), and it exists in a number of forms. Carter did not specify that the Elegy had been written to commemorate a specific person or event, but it is suffused with an appropriately subdued and elegiac air. At the opening, marked Adagio sostenuto, the melodic line rises and falls over long contoured arcs. Though the fundamental opening tempo remains the same throughout, the music seems to gather energy and presses ahead to climax, then subsides to a calm close, slowly fading into silence. This concert offers the Elegy in Carter’s revised version for cello and piano. Jay Campbell
More music by Elliott Carter
Caténaires (Two Thoughts About the Piano)
Caténaires
Pastoral for Clarinet and Piano
Caténaires
String Quartet No.5
Variations for Orchestra
Performances by same musician(s)
Suite Italienne for Cello and Piano
Sonata for Cello and Piano
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
Courtesy of International Music Foundation.