In Disguise: Borrowings in Elliott Carter’s Early String Quartets

Laura Emmery, Emory University (laura.emmery@emory.edu)

Presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
November 7, 2014

Example 1: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 1, Fantasia, mm. 22-32

Theme 1

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 7

Theme 4

1
Example 2: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No.1, Theme 4

(a) Charles Ives, Violin Sonata No. 1 (b) Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 1
Piano, m. 1 Cello, mm. 27-30

Example 3: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No.1, Sketch of the thematic layout (transcription)
(Text manuscripts, Elliott Carter Collection, Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel)

String Quartet #1

Quoted from Ives’ 2nd Violin Sonata –

m. 27-29 cello alone
It is heard near the beginning
Theme A Ives – m. 48
B – 25
C – 70 violin
D – 2nd violin m.41
22 m. cello at 120 then 48 Ives
VII 96
VI 36
Vla 180

at climax VI = 100
VII = 135 – Theme A
Vla = 48 Theme B
cello = 180
70 – 77 Viola alone – then all

Ives theme – 27 – 30 – developed by me

then 35 –
A cello alone then
all from 20-32
B lyric than viola m. 70 – 77
all from
A Ives theme combined with lyric theme
m. 108 – 130
lyric theme with other theme
up beat to 182 – 188 end
Ives – viola – 280 – 310 – then 311 – 358

2
 Example 4: Conlon Nancarrow, Rhythm Study No. 1, mm. 50-51

5:2
3:2

8:3

5:8
5:3

Example 5: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 1: Carter’s reworking of the rhythmic ratios based
on Nancarrow’s Rhythm Study No. 1 (sketch 0069v, the Library of Congress)

3
Example 6: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No.1, Variations, mm. 1-4

Example 7: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No.2: Allegro fantastico, “Provocation”

4
Example 8: Béla Bartók, String Quartets Nos. 3 and 4: Motivic characteristics

(a) String Quartet No. 3, Prima Parte, mm. 87-89

Violin II

P4 m3 M2 P4 m3

Viola

(b) String Quartet No, 4, I. Allegro, mm. 1-2

[D#, E, F, F#]

[Eb, E, F, F#]

Example 9: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2: “For Bartók,” transcription (Elliott Carter
Sammlung, Paul Sacher Stiftung)

[C, C#, D, Eb, E, F]

m3
3

for Bartók M3

M2

5
Example 10: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2, IV-Allegro, m. 610

(0146)
(0146)

(0137)

Example 11: Borrowings from Webern

(a) Carter’s transcription of Webern’s Bagatelle No. 9, transcription (Elliott Carter Sammlung,
Paul Sacher Stiftung)

6
(b) Anton Webern, Bagatelles for String Quartet, No. 6, Op.9

7
Example 12: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2, Introduction

(0146)

(0137)
(0146)