Video Content

Originally a student of history before he refocused his efforts into music, Robert Carl's interest in time, memory, and space are veins running through his compositions, his work more given to conjuring imagery than narrative plot. And whether inspiration is mined in the wake of a seascape or travelers on a speeding bullet train, the resulting music tends to carry a distinct organic beauty and rich, encompassing depth.

Seagle Festival
Russell Banks, librettist
Edited from live performances of August 14 and 20, 2021.
A comic opera exploring issues of love and death triggered by the (true) meeting of Mark Twain and Charles Ives, on the eve of the latter’s engagement to Harmony Twichell.

Interview with Robert Carl and Russell Banks on the creation of Harmony,
Seagle Festival August 14, 2021

For laptop, singers and chamber orchestra.
Edited performance of April 20, 2023, Millard Auditorium, Hartt School, West Hartford, CT.
Robert Carl and Dan Minogue, laptop; Edward Cumming conducting Foot in the Door.

For orchestra
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Gil Rose, conductor

Premiere of May 23, 2024, Orchestra of the League of Composers; DiMenna Center NYC
Louis Karchin, conductor

For string orchestra
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Gil Rose, conductor

Premiere recording by Quartet ES (US/Iceland)

• 1. Point/Line/Plane
• 2. Echoes and Premonitions
• 3. The Guests at the Party

The first movement is a depiction of Kandinsky’s theories of artistic construction (opening sounds are vocal by quartet members). The second is a “floating world” of fragments from the preceding and following movements. The third is a life cycle of four individuals, compressed from birth to a party where they meet in adulthood and move to new lives together.

Adaskin Trio with Annie Trepanier, violin

• 1. Fear of Death
• 2. In Growing Awareness of Beauty's Presence
• 3. Love of Life

Adaskin Trio

QuartetES
Composed, rehearsed, recorded remotely in quarantine (performers from Hartford, San Antonio, Santa Barbara; composer from Kansas City), one of the first such works. Violist Rita Porfiris requested a piece based on the theme of Beethoven's Grosse Fugue Op.133. The result is a set of micro-variations that explores the source within a three-minute dash.

For eight percussionists.
Premiere at the Crane School of Music, SUNY/Potsdam
Emma Gierszal, conductor

For percussion ensemble and fixed media.
Premiere performance by Crane Percussion Ensemble
James Peterczak, conductor

Premiere by Foot in the Door, The Hartt School
Edward Cumming, conductor

The Inevitable Wave(C) is the third work in a series. Its fixed media part consists of the sound of a single ocean wave breaking on a shore—about ten seconds long—that was ultimately stretched to be almost ten minutes long. This “wave” occurs in the third movement, after the dark and rolling first, followed by a series of chimed warnings in the second (all without pause).

Hartt Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman, conductor

Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Gil Rose, conductor
[Portrait of a trip across the Great Plains into the Rocky Mountains]

March 30, 2018
Hartt Orchestra
conducted by Edward Cumming
Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT

Hartt Symphony Orchestra; Christopher Zimmerman, conductor

Jeffrey Krieger, electric cello
Hartt Symphony Orchestra; Gene Young, conductor

Matt Sargent, guitar (co-composer)
Robert Carl / Matt Sargent, electronics

Alison Bjorkedal, harp
Robert Carl / Matt Sargent, electronics

Written in memory of David Macbride.
Members of the Slee Sinfonietta, University at Buffalo. May 2, 2023

October 4, 2017
Elizabeth Brown and Ralph Samuelson (shakuhachis)
Issui Minegishi (ichigenkin)
Bliss Auditorium, The Hartt School, West Hartford, CT

For soprano and five instruments;
Gilda Lyons, soprano; poetry by William Deatherage. From concert at Real Art Ways, Hartford, February 23, 2025.

For soprano, alto flute, and piano; poetry of Chase Twichell
Premiere of July 12, 2024 at XXX Festival International de Música de la Mancha, Quintanar, Spain, by Trio Zaniah (Maria Pilar Carreton, soprano; Pilar Fernandez Sacristan, flute; Santiago Sacristan, piano) [preceded by remarks by composer; music begins at 2:45]

Robert Black, contrabass; John McDonald, piano

John McDonald, piano

John McDonald, piano

John McDonald, piano

John McDonald, piano

I. Prelude (Improvisation by John McDonald)
II. Fugue (Robert Carl)

Scott Woolweaver, viola; John McDonald, piano

I. Digging
II. Leave-Taking

Performed by Janet Arms, flute and Jesse Goldberg, piano

Janet Arms, flute; Jesse Goldberg, piano

Janet Arms, flute

Robert Carl, Christopher Beroes-Haigis, Henry Birdsey, Trevor Saint, Matt Sargent, Zach Rowden

February 5, 2017 at Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT.
Henry Birdsey, guitar; Adam Buffington, saxophone; Robert Carl, laptop and shakuhachi; Zach Rowden, bass; Trevor Saint, glockenspiel; Matt Sargent, guitar.

Excerpt from performance at Kansas City Art Institute, February 27, 2018.
With KCAI SoundArt Collective (Dwight Frizzell, director) and IMP ensemble of UMKC (Mike Miller, director).

October 27, 2019 by Amaranth Duo (Ása Guðjónsdóttir, violin and Christopher Ladd, guitar).
Based on a fragment of an aria by Handel from Messiah.

December 7, 2016 by Foot in the Door, conducted by Edward Cumming;
Lincoln Theater, West Hartford, CT

For mixed quintet. A portrait of a single day's ambient sounds made by birds, frogs, and insects.
October 21, 2021 by Four Corners Ensemble; Lincoln Theater, West Hartford, CT

April 14, 2023 by Foot in the Door, conducted by Edward Cumming;
Naxos Recording

February 28, 2020 by Foot in the Door, conducted by Edward Cumming; introductory remarks by Robert Carl;
Lincoln Theater, West Hartford, CT

Premiere of a-… for a cappella chorus (text by composer).
November 7, 2015 by Khorikos, conducted by Jesse Peckham; Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua, New York, NY

May 13, 2017 by ensemble counter)induction; Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space

For piano trio
Entelechron: Roger Zahab, violin; David Russell, cello; Robert Frankenberry, piano.
Based on traditional song "The Parting Glass", commissioned by Gilda Lyons and the Phoenix Concerts.

Premiere of "Death March" for wind ensemble. May 6, 2017 by Hartt Wind Ensemble, conducted by Glen Adsit; Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT.
"A sincere offering to the National Leader and his circle, portraying their unique and exceptional qualities."

Corey Killian, Phillip Plott, Shane Rathburn, and Ian Robinson, saxophones.
November 20, 2015 at The Dirt Salon, Hartford New Music Festival.

For two concert glockenspiels.
Performed by Iktus: Sean Statser and Josh Perry. June 4, 2016 at The Firehouse, Brooklyn, NY.

Robert Carl, laptop

Concert premiere of November 12, 2015. Open-form work for laptop; this version is an abbreviated “teaser” of a work that can be explored for much longer durations. Based on a MaxMSP patch that navigates vertical “ladders” made up of precisely tuned frequencies that follow the overtone series.

Aron Kallay, microtonal piano

Concert from Los Angeles premiere series; Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA; Nov. 4, 2015.
Work in four movements (played without pause) that explores harmonic regions based on the overtone series. Movements move through four "elements": water, earth, air, and fire. System involves Pianoteq for tuning and MaxMSP for switching between tunings.

Aron Kallay, microtonal piano

Performed by Janet Arms and John McMurtery

Peabody Camerata
Gene Young, conductor

For electronic cello and video
Jeffrey Krieger, electric cello

Robert Black with Large Furniture

Robert Carl, shakuhachi

For shakuhachi and fixed media generated by Max/MSP. Wintergreen Festival 7/3/13, Wintergreen, VA (preceded by brief solo improvisation).

Work for open instrumentation and duration.
Ensemble mise-en members Sam Nester, Elizabeth Martignetti, and Mark Broschinsky (brass and electronics). 10/2/16, Brooklyn, NY.

Work for open instrumentation and duration.
Musicians of Wintergreen Festival, directed by Robert Carl. 7/3/13, Wintergreen, VA.

Donald Berman and John McDonald, piano.
6/8/09, American Composers Alliance Festival, Symphony Space, New York City.

From Robert Carl's 60th birthday recital, March 1, 2015, The Hartt School, University of Hartford.
Elizabeth Brown and Robert Carl, shakuhachi.
Gayl Teo, Jessie Snoke, Luciana Arres, Min-Jung Noh, Nam Srirojanun, violin; Matt Norman, viola.

(After Wallace Stevens' Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird)

Pianist/Narrator: Robert Carl
Images from Wallace Stevens Poetry Walk, Hartford, Connecticut.

Katie Lansdale, violin; John McDonald, piano.

• 1. Rondo: Imitations
• 2. Variations: Vision
• 3. Chaconne-Berceuse: State of Grace

March 1, 2015 by Katie Lansdale, violin and Margreet Francis, piano.
From Robert Carl's 60th birthday recital, The Hartt School, University of Hartford.

• 1. Marking the Space
• 2. Filling the Space
• 3. Freeing the Space

For trombone and 9 pre-recorded trombones.
Matthew Russo, trombone(s).

Dedicated to the memory of T. Max Graham.
mccoycarl* (Karen McCoy, artist and Robert Carl, composer).
Musicians: Tom Aber, Pat Conway, Dwight Frizzell, Richard Johnson.
2012, LaEsquina, Urban Culture Project Gallery, Kansas City, MO (excerpt from longer video).

Dora Ohrenstein, soprano; Kathy Supové, piano; Robert Black, bass.
Video by Victor Velt. A monodrama using Shaker texts from the great spiritual revival of the sect in the early 19th century.

For extended pianist. A memorial tribute to the composer Noah Creshevsky, with narration, improvisation, and fixed media of footsteps in snow and blended Schubert excerpts.
Robert Carl, performer, from concert at Real Art Ways, Hartford, February 23, 2025.

Robert Carl, piano.
Performance at Hacettepe University Conservatory, Ankara, Turkey, May 26, 2011.

For plucked/struck and sustaining instruments, with percussive timekeeper.
Katie Kennedy, cello; Bill Solomon, vibraphone; Sayun Chang, percussion.
Choreography: Pathless Journey, by Katie Stevinson-Nollet.

For piano and soprano.
Patrice Michaels, soprano; Elizabeth Buccheri, piano.

For orchestra.
Jeffrey Krieger, cello; Gene Young, conductor; Hartt Symphony Orchestra.

For chamber ensemble.
Extension Works.

For contrabass and fixed media.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

For tenor, shaman, and ensemble.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

For percussion quartet.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

For jazz-rock ensemble.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

• 1. Blind Side
• 2. Slam

For narrator and fixed media.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

• 1. Movement I
• 2. Movement II
• 3. Movement III
• 4. Movement IV
• 5. Movement V
• 6. Movement VI
• 7. Movement VII
• 8. Movement VIII
• 9. Movement IX
• 10. Movement X

For alto saxophone and piano.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

• 1. Inside the Hive
• 2. Stinger Dance

For fixed media.
Hartt Contemporary Players.

For solo piano.
Robert Carl, piano.

For solo piano.
Robert Carl, piano.

For solo piano.
Kathleen Supové, piano.

For solo piano.
Kathleen Supové, piano.

• I. Dance of Awakening
• II. Dance of Fire
• III. Dance of Growth

For solo piano.
Kathleen Supové, piano.

For solo piano.
Anthony De Mare, piano.

For solo piano.
Kathleen Supové, piano.

For solo piano.
Donald Berman, piano.

For solo piano.
Moritz Eggert, piano.

• I. Cadenza
• II. Marking the Field
• III. Stretching
• IV. Marching
• V. Floating
• VI. Flying

For solo piano.
Erberk Eryilmaz, piano.

• I. Clouds are Scattering
• II. The Big Room
• III. The World Turned Upside Down

For fixed electronic media (collaboration with artist Karen McCoy).