Music and Film/Film on Music
November 4, 2006

Dutch filmmaker Frank Scheffer’s documentaries about music constitute an overview of the great composers of the twentieth century. From his first film to focus on music, 1988’s Time Is Music (featuring two contemporary composers with wildly divergent methods, John Cage and Elliott Carter) through more than twenty subsequent films, he developed a style based on a method of “principle transformation.” Scheffer interprets ideas expressed by Vasily Kandinsky in the anthology Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) by taking the structure and character of a piece of music and transforming them into the corresponding structure and style of film. This exhibition includes Scheffer’s inspired films on the works and methods of Igor Stravinsky and Pierre Boulez, along with his distinguished portrait of Elliott Carter. The exhibition concludes with a Docu-Concert, an original concept developed by the filmmaker, which weaves live performances of Carter’s chamber music with filmic interludes.

Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film. With grateful thanks to The Consulate General of The Netherlands (New York); Holland Film; and Carol Archer and Fred Sherry for generously sharing their expertise.

The Final Chorale. 1991. The Netherlands. With Robert Craft, Reinbert de Leeuw, the Dutch Wind Ensemble. In the groundbreaking Symphonies of Wind Instruments, composed in 1920, Igor Stravinsky expresses musical continuity through montage. Short musical sequences are juxtaposed with blocks of sound, and the film’s editing employs the same method. 50 min.
Eclat. 1994. The Netherlands. With Ed Spanjaard, the Nieuw Ensemble, Pierre Boulez. The basic structure of Boulez’s Eclat is that of a mirror (ABCBA). The film mirrors the process of the composition while the composer discusses his inspiration from other art forms. 54 min.
Saturday, November 4, 2:00. T2

A Labyrinth of Time. 2004. The Netherlands. Scheffer’s documentary offers a view of the history of modernism and captures the essence of the music of Elliott Carter, widely considered the greatest living composer. Carter has lived in New York City for almost a century and Scheffer makes imaginative use of the city as a bustling metaphor for Carter’s fascination with the perception and transformation of time. Interviews include Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Rosen, and, of course, Carter himself. 90 min.
Saturday, November 4, 4:30. T1

Docu-Concert. Elliott Carter: Time Present . Legendary composer Elliott Carter, at age ninety-seven, epitomizes the imaginative spirit of music today and the disciplined technique of great classical music. Frank Scheffer, who has documented Carter’s activities since 1982, has developed the Docu-Concert, weaving together live performances of Carter’s music with filmic interludes in which the composer speaks about his compositions and interacts with musicians. Renowned virtuosos and long-time Carter friends Fred Sherry, Rolf Schulte, Charles Neidich, Stephen Taylor, and Lucy Shelton are joined by Tara O’Connor and Bridget Kibbey for a program of vocal and instrumental music: Canon for Four, Gra, Con Leggerezza Pensosa, Laud, Trilogy, Figment II, Esprit Rude, and Tempo e Tempi. The evening also includes the world premiere of Scheffer’s short film featuring Carter’s Cello Concerto (2001). Program 120 min. Carter, Scheffer present.
Saturday, November 4, 8:00. T1

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