By Christopher Fulkerson
Ceremonial I was completed in 1998, and is dedicated to Elliott Carter on his ninetieth birthday. Its single movement alternates between a meditative but intense opening, involving a sustained "plateau" idea in double stops of minor and major seconds which evolves into further minor-major effects, and a more lively figure that could be described as an intense gigue which spans the entire range of the instrument. After developing these ideas and finding various relationships between them, the piece resolves the two into an enigmatic epithet. It is eight minutes long.
The photograph on the right is of CF and Elliott Carter in Carter's New York home in February 2001, on the day the Chicago Symphony gave the American Premiere of his opera WHAT NEXT.
The World Premiere of the Ceremonial I was given by the esteemed Bay Area cellist Thalia Moore on May 10, 2009, at Old First Concerts.
CLICK HERE to See the YouTube Video of the Premiere
CLICK HERE for the Computer Realization
The score is ten pages in length and is copied in the composer's fair hand with the use of a straightedge. It is available for $6 in an 8 1/2" by 11" study score, or for $10 in an unreduced copy of the 9 1/2" by 12 1/2" master on 11" by 17" pages. All scores are bound and covered.