ELLIOTT CARTER:
A SUNBEAM’S ARCHITECTURE
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
with Marie Tachouet, Stephen Taylor, Charles Neidich, Virgil Blackwell, Peter Kolkay, Jim Pugh, Stephen Gosling, Mike Truesdell, Gordon Gottlieb, Aaron Boyd, Miranda Cuckson & Tai Murray
Ryan McAdams, conductor
NMC Digital
ABOUT THE ALBUM
The World Premiere recording of Elliott Carter’s orchestral song cycle, A Sunbeam’s Architecture.
“The choice and ordering of these poems by E.E. Cummings was made to show the poet in a period when the telephone was still a novelty and the First World War (1914-1919) was raging. It begins with a personal expression, then goes to his calling…poetry (A Sunbeam’s Architecture), that is interrupted by the war and ends returning to his personal life. It was composed in the spring of 2010 and is dedicated to my son David and Carol Parks.” –Elliott Carter
Recorded LIVE on Dec 8, 2011 at the 92nd St. Y in New York, NY
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"It also offered the premiere of the major new score he composed last year, “A Sunbeam’s Architecture,” an inventive, urgent 12-minute work for tenor and a 19-piece instrumental ensemble, which sets six poems by E. E. Cummings, offering Mr. Carter’s astute take on the elusive, seemingly fanciful words. The young tenor Nicholas Phan sang with sweet, full sound; rhythmic punch; and impressively clear diction."
GRAMOPHONE
"The performances by a cast of Carter devotees are flawless..."