Concerto for Orchestra (1969) | Compositions

Instrumentation

3(II, II=picc).3(III=corA).3(II=bcl, III=Ebcl).3(III=dbn)-4.3(III=Dtpt).3.1-timp.6perc[+2]-harp-pft-strings(min:7.6.5.4.3 max:9.8.6.6.5)

Commission

Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Society to celebrate its 125th anniversary.

Buy Score

Associated Music Publishers

Manuscripts

Paul Sacher Stiftung
Library of Congress (ca. 200 pages of sketches, a photocopy of the score with corrections, and ca. 20 rejected pages.)

Premiere: Feb 5, 1970/ New York Philharmonic / Leonard Bernstein/ Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY

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Concerto for Orchestra clip

I had been thinking about writing a work which treated most of the players in the orchestra as soloists, when the commission from the New York Philharmonic started me off. In casting about for a plan, a dramatic and musical structure for such a multiple concerto, I came across St. John Perse’s Vents (Winds), a long poem about America which suggested a way of ordering a piece. I realized at once, of course, that the broad, Whitmanesque rhetoric of the poem could only partially be reflected in the music whose main aim was to give individual, human expression to a great variety of players; yet the poem’s fluidity and its changes of character offered a useful model.

– Elliott Carter

Image

Elliott Carter, Philharmonic Hall, New York City, 1973

Video (1)

Recordings (8)

Copland: Danzón Cubano - Carter: Concerto for Orchestra - Works By Handy, Brubeck & Austin
Sony (2018)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Elliott Carter: Concerto for Orchestra; Oliver Knussen: Océan de Terre
Virgin Classics 5099909635 (2011)
London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen, conductor | Ole Bøhn, violin
American Classics: Elliott Carter
Warner Classics 5099920662 (2008)
London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen, conductor | Ole Bøhn, violin
Ives: The Unanswered Question; Elliott Carter: Concerto for Orchestra
Sony SMK 60203 (1998)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions
Arte Nova 74321 2773 2 (1995)
Ursula Oppens, piano | SWF Symphony Orchestra, Michael Gielen, conductor
Elliott Carter: Concerto for Orchestra; Violin Concerto; Three Occasions
Virgin Classics VC 7 91503-2 (1992)
London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen, conductor | Ole Bøhn, violin
Music of Elliott Carter: Syringa; Concerto for Orchestra
CRI SD 469 (1982)
Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano | Thomas Paul | Speculum Musicae | The Group for Contemporary Music | New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
First Recordings: Carter: Concerto for Orchestra; Schuman: In Praise of Shahn
Columbia M 30112 (1970)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor