Album

Before Elliott Carter developed his advanced theories and inimitable personal style in the 1950s, he was more closely identified with the American populist school of Copland, Piston, and Harris. The boisterous Holiday Overture (1944, rev. 1961) and the vigorously contrapuntal Symphony No. 1 (1942, rev. 1954) are fine examples of his youthfully energetic and extroverted music, and listeners will find these works accessible for their open tonality and traditional structures. Less transparent and quite daunting in its complexity is the Piano Concerto (1964-1965), a characteristically layered work abounding with metric modulations, cycling pitch structures, and dramatic juxtapositions of material. This disc's presentation of Carter's different periods may be a little disorienting to newcomers, but a balanced portrait of the composer must show both his early interest in creating an American vernacular and his later development as a leading exponent of the avant-garde. Mark Wait's playing in the Piano Concerto is coherent and audible against the orchestra's dense textures, but he is not recorded with much depth or presence. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra, under Kenneth Schermerhorn, provides competent accompaniment behind Wait, but the ensemble seems much more enthusiastic in the first two works, which are well recorded.

© Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

CD 1
Elliott Carter Composer Holiday Overture Work Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Schermerhorn Conductor
1	Holiday Overture	9:40			$1.49
Elliott Carter Composer Symphony No.1 Work 28:41 Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Schermerhorn Conductor
2	1.Moderately, wistfully	10:04			$1.99
3	2.Slowly, gravely	11:13			$1.99
4	3.Vivaciously	7:24			$1.49
Elliott Carter Composer Piano Concerto Work 23:39 Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Schermerhorn Conductor, Mark Wait Piano
5	Movement 1	10:52			$1.99
6	Movement 2	12:47			$1.99