Carter, Elliott_Gra

Elliott Cook Carter (1908 – 2012) was an American composer.  Gra was written in 1993 to commemorate the 80th birthday of Witold Lutoslawski.  Carter writes, "During the twenty-five or so years that I have known Witold, I have never ceased to admire his impressive works and his gracious personality.  This clarinet piece combines frequently changing, playful characters together (all based on the same material) and recalls to me my many delighted visits with the composer in America and Poland."  The word gra means 'game' in Polish.  The world premiere was performed by Roland Diry at the Pontino Music Festival in Sermoneta, Italy on June 4, 1993.  The USA premiere was performed by Michael Sussman at the Monadnock Music Festival in Wilton, NH on August 19, 1993.  The New York premiere was performed by Allen Blustine at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City on October 14, 1993.  This edition was first published in 1994.   In this brief work, Carter presents and varies distinctly contrasting "