Elliott Carter (1908-2012)
Nationality:
American
Born: December 11, 1908, New York Died: November 5, 2012, New York (age 103)
Elegy for String Quartet
(for 2 violins, viola and cello)
Duration: 5 minutes (approximately)
Composed:
1943-1946 (age 34-38)
Note: A 1946 arrangement of the Elegy for cello and piano (1943/44). There are also arrangements for string orchestra and for viola/piano.
1 recording,
1 videos
3:41
Arditti Quartet
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glossary
- chamber music, Kammermusik [G], musique de chambre [F], musica da camera [I], musica cameralis [L]—"Classical Music" for a small ensemble, generally 8 or fewer players with a canonical emphasis on 3-6 players. explore
- elegy, elégie [F], elegie [G], elegisch, elegiaco, elegaico [I], élégiaque [F], elegia—a plaintive, mournful poem, more specifically a lament for the dead. Usually implies a slow tempo, a minor key and a dark poignancy with potential spikes of tragic agony or, just as well, a gentle, bright flowering into nostalgic love of great tenderness. A musical narrative combining all of these moods is a hauntingly faithful representation of grief
- quartet, quatuor [F], quartett [G], quartetto [I], cuarteto [S]—ensemble or work for four players the most important examples being the string quartet and the piano quartet
-
string quartet, Streichquartett [G], quatuor à cordes [F], quartetto d'archi [I], quartetto di cordi [I], cuarteto de cuerda [S], vonósnégyes [H]—an ensemble as well as music written for that ensemble comprising 2 violins, viola and cello. This is one of the essential genres / forms / ensembles of chamber music and arguably a critical "core" of "classical" music.
Explore the string quartet. - transcription, transcribe—To re-score a work for an ensemble of instruments different from the original version. Typical examples include orchestrating piano or chamber works and visa versa. Within the realm of chamber music, a work for winds might be transcribed for strings, a symphony into a string quartet, a trio featuring a clarinet substituting a viola. One interesting question is: who made the transcription, the original composer? One interesting effect is that the transcription may become favored over the original. One of the most curious transcriptions in all of chamber music is Schoenberg's "Verklärte Nacht", transcribed from string sextet to piano trio with amazing success by one of his students.