ELLIOTT CARTER - A LABYRINTH OF TIME
A documentary film by Frank Scheffer
Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0
Region code: 0
Languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese
Running time: 90 minutes
No. of DVDs: 1
Comprehensive 12-page booklet contains authoritative essay, discography, photos and biographies in English
* Elliott Carter represents almost a century of American music history. Throughout the world he is considered as one of the most important contemporary composers, one who finds inspiration in the clash of European tradition and American innovation. The creative period in his life spans more than 70 years and testifies of the composer's extraordinary dedication to the culture of music.
* In A Labyrinth of Time, Frank Scheffer shows Carter's musical development and projects his compositions in time, in a journey led the composer himself. Beautiful pictures of the city of New York, of which Carter is a lifetime citizen, used as a metaphor, help building the juxtaposition of Carter's music and its reflection on our democratic society.
* The film also features interviews with Daniel Barenboim, Charles Rosen and Pierre Boulez.
Accolades afforded to this film include:
- SACEM Award, Classiques en Images 2004.
- Best Documentary Award, Student Prize, Golden Prague Festival 2004.
"Frank Scheffer's 'A Labyrinth of Time', a study of world-renowned American composer Elliott Carter, fascinates as it illuminates." Variety
"Unique insights into the composer's artistic philosophy and character."

STRAVINSKY-SCHÖNBERG
Film 1 : The Final Chorale tells the story of Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphonies of Wind for Instruments”, a piece he composed in 1920 in memory of Claude Debussy. Using for the first time a “montage” technique juxtaposing short musical sequences and blocks of sound, Stravinsky constructed his work as a bold and majestic piece with complex tempo relations which, until today, still strike musicologists, musicians and audiences alike by their originality. The chorale at the close of the piece explodes in an apotheosis of eclecticism. Frank Scheffer tells this neo-classical musical adventure in a moving documentary, taking the structure and character of the composition as the basic form for the style and editing of the film. His narration includes interviews, archival material on Stravinsky and performances by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.
Preview: click here
Film 2 : Written in 1909, Five Orchestral Pieces is one of Arnold Schönberg’s most famous compositions, representing the revolutionary step from tonal to atonal music. In the composer’s own words, it was just "No architecture, no build up, just an uninterrupted flow of colours, rhythm and moods".
Conductor Michael Gielen rehearses and performs Schoenberg's op. 16 with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Each of the five movements is interspersed with interviews as Gielen, Carl Schorske and Charles Rosen who discuss various aspects of Schoenberg's life and works. Rosen also performs the last movement of Schoenberg's Three Piano Pieces, op. 11.
Preview: click here
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM stereo
Running Time: 104 minutes
Region code: All zones
TV system: NTSC
Languages: English – Français – Deutsch -Español – Nederlands - 日本語