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Poetry is the spur for music written towards the end of Elliott Carter's long life, recorded at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scottish Symphony Orchestra's Carter retrospective earlier this year.

Carter's 'Symphonia sum fluxae pretium spei' is a product of his ninth decade. It's a three-movement, forty-five minute orchestral tour de force inspired by seventeenth-century English poet Richard Crawshaw's conceit of observing human life from a bubble floating in the air. An image from William Carlos Williams's 'Rain' permeates Carter's 2002 'Boston Concerto'. 'As the rain falls so does your love bathe every open object of the world' provokes shimmering orchestration from Carter and a dedication to his wife, Helen.

Next month Ian Wilson celebrates reaching a mere half century. 'Causeway' is the final part of a trilogy reflecting aspects of Wilson's native Northern Ireland. Here, Northern Ireland's geology is the starting point and Wilson uses electronically-generated samples to evoke shifting tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which pervade the orchestral texture, including a concertante group of flute, oboe, horn and trumpet.

And in Composers' Rooms, Sara Mohr-Pietsch visits Liza Lim's Manchester home.

Presented by Ivan Hewett

Elliott Carter: Boston Concerto
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Diego Masson, conductor

Elliott Carter: Symphonia sum fluxae pretium spei
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Ryan Wigglesworth, conductor

Liza Lim: Diabolical Birds
Zurich New Music Ensemble
Jürg Henneberger, conductor

Ian Wilson: Causeway
Ulster Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, conductor.