Mosaic

Carlos Salzedo, the extraordinary harpist, who was a member of the small group of modernists that surrounded Varese and Ives in the 1920's and 30's and  has remained a memory which I cherish. His unusual developments in harp technique always seemed to me too infrequently explored in recent times. So in writing " Mosaic," commissioned by the Nash Ensemble, I decided to explore many of his exciting inventions to recall his friendship in the early 1930's.


The score is formed by many short mosaic-like tessera that I hope make one coordinated impression.


-Elliott Carter



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"Carter went back into his own history for his six-minute Mosaic, a scintillating memory of his youthful friendship with the harp wizard Carlos Salzedo. First, a harp statement; then an instrumental response. But this bare structural design gives no indication of the playful humour, the jostling arpeggios and ingenious devices squeezed into its pages."
The Times