ELLIOTT

 CARTER    
Woodwind  Quintet      
Allegretto        
Allegro  giocoso    
Born:  December  11,  1908,  in  New  York  City  
Died:  November  5,  2012,  in  New  York  City  
Work  composed:  1948  
World  premiere:  February  21,  1949,  Radio  broadcast;  first  concert  performance  February  27,  
1949  
 
Until  his  death  Elliott  Carter  remained  an  active  composer  of  extraordinary  achievement  and  
complexity.  Much  of  the  music  he  wrote  in  the  past  half-­‐century  makes  considerable  demands  
upon  performers  and  listeners  because  of  its  multi-­‐layered  textures  and  rhythms.  An  appealing  
undercurrent  of  lyricism  informs  his  music  from  the  1930s  until  the  early  ‘50s.  Yet  many  of  these  
accessible  works  are  scarcely  known  by  most  concertgoers  because  of  Carter’s  reputation  as  a  
composer  of  great  complexity  and  unrepentant  modernism.  
 
Carter  shared  specific  thoughts  about  the  Quintet:    
 
“In  1948  several  woodwind  players  asked  me  to  write  a  work  for  woodwind  quintet.  On  looking  
over  some  earlier  quintet  works,  I  found  the  composers  were  in  the  habit  of  overlooking  the  fact  
that  each  of  these  instruments  has  a  different  sound.  I,  on  the  other  hand,  was  particularly  
struck  by  this,  and  so  decided  to  write  a  work  that  would  emphasize  the  individuality  of  each  
instrument  and  that  made  a  virtue  of  their  inability  to  blend  completely.”    
 
The  opening  Allegretto  revels  in  perky,  bubbly  wit  but  posits  a  readily  discernible  lyrical  bent  at  
far  remove  from  many  concertgoers’  experience  (or  what  they’ve  read  or  simply  heard  about  
Carter’s  music).  Terse,  economical  textures  are  redolent  of  Stravinsky’s  neo-­‐classical  years.  A  
drone-­‐like  bassoon  passage  suggests  a  Baroque  organ’s  peddle  point  over  which  bright  
instrumental  colors  dance  breezily.    
 
Marked  Allegro  giocoso  the  concluding  movement  adds  further  syncopation  and  toe-­‐tapping  
energy.  Unmistakable  jazz  elements  infuse  the  music  (also  suggested  in  the  Allegretto).  Brief  
lyrical  episodes  luxuriate  in  delightful  flute  rambling  and  scurrying  scalar  runs  by  the  clarinet.  
Friendly  barking  from  the  horn  enriches  the  fascinating  timbres  of  the  music.