Keith Jarrett, The Carnegie Hall Concert ‑ Part I

On September 26, 2005, at the Isaac Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall in New York City, Keith Jarrett gave a remarkable concert of real-time musical creation, subsequently released by ECM in September of the following year. The recording is structured in ten parts, supplemented by several encore pieces. The opening track, Part I, with a duration of 9 minutes and 18 seconds, was fully transcribed into standard notation by Vincenzo Caporaletti. The transcription was carried out using notation software playback synchronized with the original audio source, thereby ensuring precise alignment between the score and the performance. This transcription is published in the present edition, potentially also serving a performative function.
In his contribution, Peter Elsdon adopts a macrostructural analytical framework of a systemic-holistic nature, identifying relationships among the various sections of The Carnegie Hall Concert, and, within an even broader perspective, outlining the intertextual links between this phonographic work and other recordings in Jarrett’s oeuvre. In a complementary fashion, Vincenzo Caporaletti adopts a microstructural approach, focusing on the first piece of the suite—Part I—and subjecting it to a detailed, note-by-note analysis. This investigation reveals specific constructive modalities that uncover previously unrecognized correlations with the mystical and esoteric dimensions of Keith Jarrett’s creative process.