Elliott Carter (1908-2012)

Micomicón (2002)

for orchestra

  • General information
    • Composition date: 2002
    • Duration: 3 mn
    • Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
    • Cycle: Three Illusions
Detailed formation
  • 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 2 percussionists, harp, piano, strings

Premiere information

  • Date: 15 January 2004
    Location:

    États-Unis, Boston, Massachusetts, Symphony Hall


    Performers:

    le Boston Symphony Orchestra, direction : James Levine.

Observations

Program note

Micomicón, invented by Sancho Panza and his friends to cure Don Quixote’s “madness”, is said to be a kingdom near Ethiopia stolen by a giant from its queen, Micomicona, who beseeches the adventurous Don Q. to put her back on the throne (in Cervantes’ great novel, chapters 29-30, book 1). This brief score was commissioned by the Boston Symphony as a present to the extraordinary James Levine. It was composed in New York in 2002.

Elliott Carter.