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.

  • orchestra
  • ACE Publications

    152 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Robert Carl SLOW ARCH/UN ARCO LENTO - For Flute and String Quintet Flute, 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, and Contrabass
    Robert Carl SLOW ARCH/UN ARCO LENTO - For Flute and String Orchestra Flute and String Orchestra
    Robert Carl SOLO SONG (for voice alone) voice
    Robert Carl SONATINA, THE DANCE OF SOUND AND SPACE
    vln (or flute), piano
    Robert Carl SPIRAL DANCES Piano
    Robert Carl Splectar Electric Guitar and Live Electronics
    Robert Carl Splectra harp and live electronics
    Robert Carl STARS' HARMONY;THE NIGHT'S PLEASURE, THE orch: 3-3-3-3, 4-3-3-1, kbd, hp, 3perc, str
    Robert Carl STING OF COMMAND Baritone, Clarinet, Violin, Contrabass, and Piano
    Robert Carl STONYPATH SUNRISE AND VICTORY MARCH FOR LITTLE SPARTA ob/eh,vla,hp,perc
    Robert Carl STRING QUARTET No. 2 “Fear of Death/Love of Life” String Quartet
    Robert Carl String Quartet No. 3 - “Spatial/Temporal, Abstract/Visceral, Transcendent/Humane” String Quartet
    Robert Carl SULLIVAN SONGS 12 solo singers: SSSAAATTTBBB
    Robert Carl SUNBURST brass quintet: 2-1-1-1; tape
    Robert Carl SURGE
    cb, pf
    Robert Carl SWING SHIFT pf
    Robert Carl Symphony No. 2, "Liberty and/or Death"
    orch: 3/pic-3/eh-3/bcl/Ebcl-2-cbsn; 4-3(in C)/D-3/btbn-1; 3perc; pf/org; str
    Robert Carl SYMPHONY NO. 3 'THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN'
    orch: pic/3-3/eh-3/bcl-3; 4-3-2/1btbn-1; harp; piano; timpani; 3perc; strings
    Robert Carl SYMPHONY NO. 4 "The Ladder" 3333 4331 altosx pf/cel, timp, perc(4), strings
    Robert Carl SYMPHONY No. 5 "Land" 3333 4332 alto saxophone, timp(4) perc(4), piano/cel, strings
    Robert Carl Symphony No.6, "Dome of Refuge" 3 fl (#3 dbl picc); 2 ob; 3 cl (#3 dbl bscl); 2 bsn; soprano/alto/tenor/baritone saxophones; 4 horns in F; 3 tpt in C; 2 tenor trombones; bass tbn; tuba; timp; 6 perc; harp; piano/synthesizer; strings
    Robert Carl Symphony No. 7: "Infinity Avenue" Chamber Orchestra, 3 Female Voices, and Live Electronics
    1(+picc)110 - 1110 - timp, 2 perc, laptop - SSA solo - strings
    Robert Carl Taxonomy of Silence String Quartet or Open Quartet
    Robert Carl THIRTEEN: BAGATELLES FOR PIANO (after Wallace Stevens) Piano
    Robert Carl THIS CITY MAKES ME WEEP sop,tape

    Additional Works