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 String Quartet No. 3 - “Spatial/Temporal, Abstract/Visceral, Transcendent/Humane” String Quartet
Robert Carl NamasteDante Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Harp, and Piano
Robert Carl Sentient Serenade Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano
Robert Carl Splectar Electric Guitar and Live Electronics
Robert Carl Growth Fugue string quartet
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 Splectra harp and live electronics
Robert Carl THREADING SPACE - BRASS TRIO brass trio and fixed media
Trumpet in C, Horn in F, Tenor Trombone, laptop electronics (MaxMSP)
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 Piano Quartet: "Just Listen" Piano Quartet
Robert Carl WHAT'S UNDERFOOT - piano version Solo Piano
Robert Carl DEATH MARCH large wind ensemble
Robert Carl PIANO SONATA No. 3 "Clouds of Clarification" digitally retunable piano
Robert Carl JYUN ON 2 shakuhachi, 1 Ichigenkin
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 ONE SLIPS, ONE SKIPS 2 vln
Robert Carl Quiet(assisted) Open
Robert Carl SULLIVAN SONGS 12 solo singers: SSSAAATTTBBB
Robert Carl Refiner's Fire violin and guitar
Robert Carl a-... SATB a cappella
Robert Carl ColdNightSnow 2 Concert Glockenspiels
Robert Carl INFINITY AVENUE improvisation ensemble, max MSP live sound processing
Robert Carl TRANSCENDENTAL CAKEWALK (orch version) 2222 4221 perc(2) timp(4) electric guitar, piano, strings
Robert Carl CLEAN SWEEP - Acoustic Version shakuhachi, with 5 violins, plus viola or cello

Additional Works