Overview
Title: Gra for B-flat clarinet alone
Composer: Elliott Carter (1908-2012)
Composition Year: 1993
Instrumentation: Solo Clarinet in B-flat
Extended Techniques: Quarter tones (fingerings provided)
Duration: ca. 4.5 minutes
Difficulty Level: 5/5
Today we’ve got a two-for-one special on the music of Elliott Carter! In this article I’ll be digging into his piece for solo clarinet, Gra. I’ve also posted another one that looks at one of his bass clarinet pieces, Steep Steps.
Elliott Carter is definitely one of the more notable American composers out there. He had a long and prolific career that spanned decades - he lived to be almost 104 years old and never stopped composing before his death! As a result, he produced a massive body of work that included chamber, orchestral, choral, and stage works. He wrote extensively for clarinet; his output includes a concerto for clarinet and chamber orchestra, a clarinet quintet, many chamber pieces, and, of course, Gra.
Gra was written as a musical tribute to Polish composer Witold Lutosławski - a longtime friend of Carter’s - for his 80th birthday. It received its world premiere on June 4, 1993 in Sermoneta, Italy, and its American debut came a few months later, on October 14, 1993, in New York City.
Side note: Lutosławski (who died the year after Gra was written) is notable among clarinetists for his Dance Preludes for clarinet and piano (1954). While I have no plans to cover it on this blog (it falls outside my date range), it is an excellent piece and I encourage you to listen to it if you don’t already know it! I've included a recording of the piece at the bottom of the page.
(I highly recommend listening to Neidich's commentary before the performance. He gives some very good insight into the piece!)
Analysis
Gra is Polish for “game.” The marking ghiribizzoso at the beginning roughly translates to “whimsical,” and is essentially a synonym for the more common term capriccioso. Thus, Gra is a very playful piece, evoking spontaneity and freedom.
Charles Neidich, who was a friend of Carter’s and recorded Gra, notes that the piece has two characters: One “sentimental,” the other “capricious,” and the work goes back and forth between them throughout its duration. It’s easy to tell the characters apart: “Sentimental” lines are very legato with more gradual changes in dynamic and are often marked espressivo, while the “capricious” lines are staccato and disjointed. Interestingly, both characters make heavy use of syncopation, albeit with different note lengths: The legato lines use a lot of syncopated triplets, while the staccato lines use off-beat sixteenths. I’m simplifying it a little, but the point stands.
My one big piece of advice for Gra is this: Accuracy is important, but it’s also crucial that you work to create gestures, especially in an atonal piece like this. During the technical caprice sections, remember to maintain melodic momentum by keeping your airstream engaged through all the rests. Phrases built using broken-up chunks like the ones in Gra are never just a bunch of notes existing next to each other; they are Evoke spontaneity and freedom. It should sound light and cheeky, never angry.
A few other small notes:
Use backless/long fingerings for any spots where you have to quickly jump from altissimo to clarion registers. Backless D#/Eb is R 123| –3 Ab/Eb. Long F# fingering (T R 12-|123 Ab/Eb) is responsive but tends to be sharp.
For the long held G starting at m. 85, I personally like the sound of a timbre trill over vibrato, but either sounds good. Regardless of which one you pick, be sure to make it sound organic (basically, don’t come bursting out of the gate with it. Let it slowly build).
The nonuplets starting at m. 80 are marked a piacere, which is basically a rubato indicator. This is Carter giving you permission to play a bit with time here; just don’t go overboard. Any rubato you use here should serve the contour, smoothness, and direction of the musical line.
Have fun!
Here's a recording of the Lutoslawski Dance Preludes, for those interested:
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