For many classical music lovers, the history of music composition ended decades ago. Yearning for music that touches them and stirs their emotions, these listeners have not been drawn to the sonic creations of contemporary serious music.
Carter Larsen is a composer for these disenfranchised music lovers - indeed, for all romantics. His compositional style - his melody, harmony, rhythm, and instrumental virtuosity - attains a level of complexity that is richly satisfying. Carter's approach to the piano, though modern and individual, has its antecedents in the pianism of the great classical and romantic composers - sometimes vocal, sometimes orchestral, and sometimes peculiarly pianistic in figuration and filigree. But above all, Carter's music seeks to touch us. Set in forms that are clear and accessible, his music is always at the service of the emotional content, whether serious or capricious, bitter or sweet, worldly or spiritual.
Although a lot of contemporary popular music targeted at adults and touted as music for the soul, for many of us it does not seem to penetrate. Carter composes music for our age that is personal, deeply felt, and sophisticated. Resisting conventional labels, his music pursues its own path with intense inspiration. It reaches us and reflects us.
Carter Larsen is a composer for our times.
Scott Epstein
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