Composing Freedom: Elliott Carter’s ‘Self-Reinvention’ and the Early Cold War Daniel Guberman A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music. Chapel Hill 2012 Approved By, Brigid Cohen, chair Allen Anderson Annegret Fauser Mark Katz Severine Neff © 2012 Daniel Guberman ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT DANIEL GUBERMAN: Composing Freedom: Elliott Carter’s ‘Self-Reinvention’ and the Early Cold War (Under the direction of Brigid Cohen) In this dissertation I examine Elliott Carter’s development from the end of the Second World War through the 1960s arguing that he carefully constructed his postwar compositional identity for Cold War audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. The majority of studies of Carter’s music have focused on technical aspects of his methods, or roots of his thoughts in earlier philosophies. Making use of published writings, correspondence, recordings of lectures, compositional sketches, and a drafts of writings, this is one of the first studies to examine Carter’s music from the perspective of the contemporary cultural and political environment. In this Cold War environment Carter emerged as one of the most prominent composers in the United States and Europe. I argue that Carter’s success lay in part due to his extraordinary acumen for developing a public persona. And his presentation of his works resonated with the times, appealing simultaneously to concert audiences, government and private foundation agents, and music professionals including impresarios, performers and other composers. This detailed study of a single composer sheds new light on how artists were able to negotiate the complex economies of the Cold War artistic environment. iii To my parents iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have completed this project without a great deal of support from many people, first and foremost the members of my committee. Without Annegret Fauser’s seminar on music and the Second World War I may have never come to my topic. A project with Mark Katz examining musical competitions helped to shape many of my early thoughts on Cold War musical politics. I am grateful to Allen Anderson for his careful reading that resulted in fascinating conversations towards the end of the project. Severine Neff has served as a valuable mentor since I arrived at Chapel Hill on this and other projects. I am especially grateful for her efforts to help organize our trip to China, where I had the opportunity to introduce Carter’s music to a room full of conservatory students and gain fascinating feedback. Brigid Cohen probably did not expect to begin advising a dissertation the first semester that she arrived in Chapel Hill, but I am grateful that she accepted the opportunity in stride. Her willingness to read and provide valuable feedback on even the most preliminary of drafts, and her wide ranging advice ranging from minute details of this project to finding the best chocolate in Basel has been invaluable. In addition to the members of my committee I have benefitted greatly other members of the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill communities. My scholarly thought was shaped in large part by discussions with my graduate-student colleagues, and I benefited greatly from their diverse interests and methodologies. Of v particular note are Catherine Hughes, Laurie McManus, Anna Ochs, and Tara Tachovsky. I also benefited greatly from writing partners outside of my department, especially Ariana Vigil, who kindly proofread a late draft. This project was only possible through two long research trips, the first at the Library of Congress funded by a James W. Pruett Fellowship, and the second at the Paul Sacher Stiftung, funded by an award from the Sacher Foundation. In addition to access to the many primary sources in both of these places I benefited from numerous conversations and expert guidance. Steve Soderberg at the Library of congress generously shared with me the otherwise uncataloged piano reduction of the Holiday Overture and pointed me to a box of unsorted Carter materials that proved especially valuable. At the Paul Sacher Stiftung Henrike Hoffman ensured that I had a constant supply of sources and helped me locate audio recordings and text manuscripts. While there I had the pleasure of having many enlightening conversations about Carter with Felix Meyer, who pointed me in many fruitful directions. Most of all, thank you to my brother, Andrew Guberman, and my parents Robbie Guberman and Harold Guberman. I could not have done any of this without their endless love, support, and encouragement. vi SONATA FOR CELLO AND PIANO By Elliott Carter Copyright© 1951 (Renewed) by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..x Introduction: Elliott Carter as Engaged Composer…………………………………….….1 Choral Music as a Political Act and Carter’s Abandonment of the Chorus………5 What Does it Mean to be a Politically Engaged Composer……………………...12 Chapter 1: The Cello Sonata: Mediating Schoenberg and Stravinsky in Early Cold War America…………………………………………………………………………………..20 The Roots of Musical Diplomacy………………………………………………..21 Analyzing the Cello Sonata: Musically and Culturally…… ……………………36 Unit 1 (Measures 6-11)………………………………………………………......46 Unit 2 (Measures 12-19)………………………………………………………....52 Unit 3 (Measures 19-25)……………………………………………………........55 Unit 4 (Measures 27-32)……….………………………………………………...56 Unit 5: Metric Modulation (Measures 33-42).…………………………….……..58 Unit 6 (Measures 43-48)………………………………………………………....62 Unit 7 (Measures 49-54)……………………………………………………........63 Transition to the B Section (Measures 55 – 67)…………………………………64 The B Section……………….. …………………………………………………..65 The Return of the A Section (Measure 105)……...……………………………...66 Mediation through Jazz……… ………………………………………………….67 Chapter 2: Writing with “Twelve Tones”………………………………………………..73 Scholarship and Carter’s “Serialism”………………… ………………………...75 viii Twelve-Tone Sketches…………………………………………………………...87 The 1950s: The Growth of the Twelve-Tone/Serial Fad ……………………......95 Defining His System and Distorting the Boundary………...…………………..105 New Virtuosity and a New Identity………. …………………………………...124 Chapter 3: The Construction and Dissemination of an American Identity...…………..140 Other Composers Active in Cultural Diplomacy…..…………………………...142 Construction of an American Identity – The Composition of the First String Quartet………………………………………………………………………….148 The First Quartet as an American Composition and the Roots of American Cultural Diplomacy……………………………......…………………...……… 158 Back in America a Career Takes off………… ………………………………...165 Financial Stability…………. …………………………………………………..168 The 1960 Soviet Union Tour and Negotiating with the Government…………..174 Defining Himself through Writing in the Early 1960s…...…………………….185 At the Center of the Cold War in West Berlin………………………………….189 An Expert on Soviet Music……………………………………………………..194 Composing the Cold War Conflict……………………………………………..201 Branding himself an American…………………………………………………209 The Western Hero………….. ………………………………………………….216 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...219 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………224 ix LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 – Cello Sonata, Piano measures 6-10………………………………………………..39 1.2 – Cello Sonata, Measures 1-6………………………………………………………..40 1.3a – Cello Sonata, Cello Line measures 6-16………………………………………….41 1.3b – Cello Sonata. Cello line measures 23-32…………………………………………41 1.4 – Jonathan Bernard’s pitch analysis of measures 6-11………………………………43 1.5 – Cello Sonata, Measures 6-8………………………………………………………..49 1.6 – Cello Sonata, Measures 10-11……………………………………………………..52 1.7 – Cello Sonata, Measures 12-16……………………………………………………..54 1.8 – Cello Sonata, Measure 18……………………………………………………….…55 1.9 – Cello Sonata, Measures 17-21……………………………………………………..56 1.10 – Cello Sonata, Measures 25-26…………………………………………………....56 1.11 – Cello Sonata, Measures 27-29…………………………………………………....57 1.12 – Cello Sonata, Sketch of metric plan………………………………………………58 1.13 – Cello Sonata, Measures 33-41……………………………………………………59 1.14 – Cello Sonata, Measures 43-46……………………………………………………63 1.15 – Cello Sonata, Measures 51-52……………………………………………………63 1.16 – Cello Sonata, Measure 59………………………………………………………...64 2.1 – Andrew Mead’s analysis of Night Fantasies………………………………………86 2.2 – Sketch from Holiday Overture piano reduction……………………………………90 2.3 – Piano Sonata, 12-tone episode sketch……………………………………………...92 2.4 – 12-tone episode sketch, beginning…………………………………………………92 2.5 – 12-tone episode sketch octave B-flats……………………………………………..92 2.6 – 12-tone episode sketch, end of first line…………………………………………...93 2.7 – 12 -tone episode sketch, beginning of second line………………………………...94 x 2.8 – 12-tone episode sketch, return of complete row…………………………………..94 2.9 – 12-tone episode sketch, third line…………………………………………………95 xi Introduction: Elliott Carter as Engaged Composer All my compositions are or are not influenced by the music of what are called ‘12-tone composers’ as much as they are influenced by Guillaume de Machaut, Bach, Beethoven – I cannot distinguish nor can I say that I am consciously influenced more by one composer than another – the daily newspaper (particularly these days) influences me more than anything else (not, of course, on the music page).1 In this 1961 letter Elliott Carter responds to questions about technical methods and influences in his works by