Inspired by the abstract Expressionist paintings of Helen Frankenthaler, Sound Fields shifts between dense and wispy string chords which are lent an eerie calm by the non-vibrato strings. Aged 99, Elliott Carter wrote it for the Tanglewood Festival, where it was premiered in 2008. Five years on, Christoph von Dohnanyi conducted the work with the festival’s resident orchestra, the Boston Symphony, as the prelude to more conclusive, minor-key music-dramas by Beethoven and Brahms.