“Elliott Carter is America’s leading composer, though as he insists, he is a composer who happens to be American. Born in 1908 Carter has been increasingly recognised as a master of closely worked, disciplined, often passionate, sometimes violent music which he is now composing with a growing facility. As a figure who spans the century he has known all the great leaders of contemporary music, from Stravinsky to Charles Ives, Edgar Varese and Aaron Copland and many, many others.”

This is the introduction to John Tusa’s interview with Elliott Carter aired in 2000 by BBC’s Radio 3, where Carter shares his view on various topics such as Charles Ives, Minimalism, John Cage, contemporary music, being a composer, music composition today, among other things.

Elliott Carter is now 98 years old and still composing. Even if you don’t like his music, it’s worth listening to the interview just to hear him talk about important historical events and some of the great figures of the 20th-century.

Listen to the 44 minute interview with Elliott Carter here (you’ll need Real Player) or read the transcript available on the BBC website.

The guys at Create Digital Music (a great blog and community site on digital music making) are having a big giveaway with over US$4,000 of hardware and software. All you have to do is fill out an online form with your information for a chance to win (unfortunately only US residents are eligible to win, but international folks can also enter to get other stuff as well).

These are some of the things they are giving away:

• Akai MPC500 mobile music workstation
• Ableton Live 6 music production software
• Alesis ControlPad drum pad controller
• Glyph GT 050Q 250GB eSATA/USB/FW400/FW800 hard drive
• Moog Music Moogerfooger FreqBox VCO effects box
• Native Instruments Absynth 4 soft synth
• Native Instruments Elektrik Piano soft synth
• Numark Total Control DJ control surface
• PreSonus FaderPort

Sounds great right? The contest ends Monday, June 11, 11:59 P.M. NYC (US-Eastern) time. Enter here. Check out and bookmark their site while you are there, “Create Digital Music” provides great information on digital technology.

I found a new music radio station online the other day, and I thought some of you would be interested in having the link:

Hear and Now

Quoting from the BBC website:

“Hear and Now is the main contemporary music programme on Radio 3. It features live concerts and studio sessions from the best new music groups, and premieres of BBC commissioned works.”

You can listen to their programs online. Some of the previous programs have been:

• 19 May 07 The Dutch school 1/2
• 12 May 07 Simon Bainbridge
• 05 May 07 Geoffrey Poole
• 28 Apr 07 British composers
• 21 Apr 07 Ligeti Remembered
• 14 Apr 07 Plus Minus
• 07 Apr 07 Music & Politics

When: Saturdays 22:30 - 24:00. I will definitely be tunning in everytime I can. If you now of any other stations please feel free to post a link on the comments section.

Classical Music News
The great Russian cellist, dies at age 80. Rostropovich entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1943, at the age of 16, where he studied not only the piano and the cello, but also conducting and composition. Among his teachers were Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. In 1945 he came to prominence as cellist when he won the gold medal in the first ever Soviet Union competition for young musicians. Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. His talent also inspired compositions from numerous composers such as Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Britten, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Bernstein, and Penderecki. Rostropovich’s health declined in 2006 and was admitted to a Paris hospital at the end of January 2007, but then decided to fly to Moscow, where he had been frequently receiving care. Obituaries cited sources stating that the cellist suffered from intestinal cancer, while other sources report, he re-entered the Blokhin Cancer Institute on April 7, 2007, and died on April 27, 2007 (picture: Prokofiev and Rostropovich. Moscow circa 1950).