Robert Carl

Biography

Robert Carl (b.1954) studied composition with Jonathan Kramer, George Rochberg, Ralph Shapey, and Iannis Xenakis. His music is performed throughout the US and Europe, and is published by American Composers' Alliance, Boosey & Hawkes, Roncorp, and Apoll-Edition. His grants, prizes and residencies have come from such sources as the National Endowment for the Arts, Tanglewood, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Camargo Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Ucross, Millay Colony, Bogliasco Foundation, Djerassi Foundation, the Aaron Copland House, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

He has been awarded a 2005 Chamber Music America commission for a string quintet written for the Miami String Quartet and Robert Black. An excerpt from his opera-in-progress Harmony (with novelist Russell Banks) was presented in May 2005 in the New York City Opera’s VOX Showcase series. He is also the recipient of the 1998 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. New World Records released a CD of three large string chamber works in March 2006. In 2007, Carl received a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council for travel to Japan to research contemporary Japanese composers, and he has been commissioned by Oxford University Press to write a book on the premiere of Terry Riley’s In C.

Other CD releases of his work are found on Neuma, Koch International, Lotus, Centaur, Vienna Modern Masters, E.R.M., and The Aerial. For fifteen years he was a co-director of the Extension Works new music ensemble in Boston; he is chair of the composition department at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, and writes extensively on new music for Fanfare Magazine. He studies shakuhachi with Ralph Samuelson.

  • ACE Publications

    152 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Robert Carl THREADING SPACE - BRASS TRIO brass trio and fixed media
    Trumpet in C, Horn in F, Tenor Trombone, laptop electronics (MaxMSP)
    Robert Carl THREE REAL TIME ETUDES Synclavier
    Robert Carl TIME/MEMORY/SHADOW for double trio Double Trio
    Trio1: Violin, Cello, Piano - Trio 2: Violin (2), Viola, Harp
    Robert Carl TIME'S FILTER
    Woodwind quintet: 1-1-1-1, horn AND string quintet: 2-1-1-1
    Robert Carl TIME'S SPRING 4vln, 4vc, cb
    Robert Carl TOWARDS THE CREST Bass Clarinet
    Robert Carl TRANCENDANCE sop,cb(with sound processing),pf
    Robert Carl TRANSCENDENTAL CAKEWALK (6 players) sextet
    asax/Ebcl, elec gtr, perc, pf, vc (amp), cb (amp)
    Robert Carl TRANSCENDENTAL CAKEWALK (orch version) 2222 4221 perc(2) timp(4) electric guitar, piano, strings
    Robert Carl TWO FOR LE NOTRE fl,vln,viola da gamba,hpschd
    Robert Carl TWO VISIONS sop,chamb orch
    Robert Carl UPDRAFT 10 trombones and live electronics
    Robert Carl VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES flute (piccolo), violin, cello, piano
    Robert Carl VIOLIN SONATA (Celestial Fragments) vln,pf
    Robert Carl Violin Sonata No. 2, "Angel-Skating" Violin and Piano
    Robert Carl WARM WAXING WAIL singing pianist
    Robert Carl WATERLIGHT
    pf, vib OR solo vib OR vib, hp OR vib, gtr OR 2vib OR pf, vib, glock
    Robert Carl WHAT'S UNDERFOOT (Orch version) 17 players
    2 Fl (both dbl picc) Ob Cl SopSx Bsn Hn Tpt C Bstbn Perc(2) piano strings:
    Robert Carl WHAT'S UNDERFOOT - piano version Solo Piano
    Robert Carl WHERE SOUND AND THOUGHT MEET
    Soprano Saxophone in Bb; Alto Saxophone in Eb ;Tenor Saxophone in Bb; Baritone Saxophone in Eb
    Robert Carl WHITE HERON 3(dbl picc)-3(dbl ehn)-3-3, 4-3-3-1, timp, hp, 3 perc, strings
    Robert Carl WIDE OPEN FIELD elec vc, cham orch
    Robert Carl Wind's Trace Rests on Leaves and Waves
    2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
    Robert Carl WINDRIVER
    Sextet: fl, cl, perc (glock, vib), piano (optional addl. celeste), violin, cello

    Additional Works