String Me Along

Days like these, I'm thinking of cooler, nay frostier times gone by -- or as frosty as things tend to get in my part of the Mason-Dixon. And for some reason Elliott Carter's String Quartets No. 1 & 2 - Composer's Quartets really sets the mood, even though I originally bought this album on a humid evening at Los Angeles' Amoeba Records on Sunset (and I thought my store's classical collection was relatively impressive). Carter, a protégé of Holst, made a name for himself in the pioneering Neo-Classical/avant-garde set, although this is the only work I have ever heard from him, and my friend at work who's our resident classical expert keeps steering me away from his section because he "scares him". Although I have noticed that a few of the Carter CDs that we carry have been produced by a local gentleman who comes into the store from time to time so I might hit him up on some other recommendations. Something about this album makes me want to take an icy shower and then lay naked on my soft, cool bedsheets and let the ceiling fan brush every microhair on my hide dry. Think refreshing thoughts, my comrades. And enjoy the calamity.

"Fantasia: Maestoso - Allegro Scorrevole" - Elliott Carter (m4a file)

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