Carter Larsen
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Carter Larsen
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As a composer, the excitement generated by Carter Larsen's music springs from his extensive passion and versatility. In a recent review of Carter's performance at St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London critic Christopher Wood proclaims, "Carter Larsen is the first of the New Romantics". Wood observes, " A new Larsen has emerged, playing the dual role of creator and interpreter. Written in a fluid, tonal and highly cinematic style, every sweep of the hands seemed to conjure yet more visual and emotional imagery. Here is a composer with European sensibilities, and yet a natural affinity with the world of Hollywood."
"Larsen gave a packed St. Martins a brilliant performance. The opening 'Reminiscence' with its Satie-esque chords, plunged us deep into a pool of tranquility in the throbbing heart of midday London. Then a shimmering right hand contrasted with the declamatory left to produce a finely-wrought climax in Mirage, a musical illusion perfectly complemented by the following, brooding 'Elegie'."
"The rippling figures that permeate 'Seagulls of Capri' create a feeling of floating illusion. The power of imagery in 'Bridges and Beyond' boasts a ripe, romantic movie theme richly harmonized and developed with a torrid intensity. The theme from the film 'Pierced Heart' was another strongly cinematic statement, this time reinforced with compelling harmonic shifts."
"Larsen ended his performance with a tour de force. 'Film Fantasia' is an extended improvisation with dramatic concepts of dynamics and texture. Only a composer who plays his own music could achieve such a seamless transition from conception through to performance. Larsen brings backthat immediate link between creative force and audience. Let us thank Larsen...if it speaks from the heart, to the heart, it will always have the power to touch us."
Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Larsen composed in his teens, and was the youngest composition student at Julliard's summer home in Aspen. Pursuing a dual career as a composer and pianist, he studied at San Francisco's Conservatory of Music, under John Adams (composition) and Milton Salkind (piano).
Post-conservatory, he studied piano with Peter Feuchtwanger in London, where required reading was "Zen and the Art of Archery". Later he worked with Ruth Nye in London and Vlado Perlemuter in Paris.
Larsen found popularity and was based in London for 18 years, with summers spent in Gstaad, Switzerland. His London debut was in 1984, when, according to the Guardian, his chosen pieces were executed "with delicacy, taste and smooth continuity of line broken only occasionally for dramatic effect. Larsen's romantic sensibilities were evident throughout". The Daily Telegraph was particularly impressed with his "fluency and panache". The Times commented: "Mr. Larsen was at his most beguiling, alike in tonal charm and tenderness of phrasing". Engagements on the Continent, as well as in Great Britain, followed.
Larsen performed as soloist in major concerts with the Royal Philharmonc and London Symphony orchestras. He has recorded classical repertoire, as well as his own music. Last year's tour included conducting the Harrow Symphony Orchestra in "Swan Lake". Larsen modestly said, "an opera conductor is the real thing". Larsen conducts by memory, a feat only 20 percent of conductors attempt.
In last year's concert at Malibu's Pepperdine University, Carter received a standing ovation for his own music from a full house of film directors and producers. In the Malibu Times feature, Carter states, "I have no doubt that if Mozart were alive, he would be writing film music," says Larsen. "If you were to go back to the 19th century, all the pianists were composers. That tradition has been killed by the homogenization and the pigeonholing of 20th century musicians. The performer is separate from the composer, and the composer is separate from the audience and performer. There's no direct link between the person composing the music and the audience."
Those fortunate enough to have seen Carter Larsen in concert, know he definitely understands how to share the musical experience from the composer, through the performer, and to the audience.