Elliott Carter (1908-2012) was the foremost composer of classical music in America during the second half of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades, he consistently produced works that critics hailed as creatively daring, intellectually demanding, and emotionally complex. Distancing himself from the various "schools" and movements that grew and waned in popularity during the postwar era, Carter cultivated a deeply personal musical
style that he developed and refined up until the very end of his life. This book of the composer springs from author David Schiff's life-long interest in Elliott Carter's music and
his close personal connection with the composer which spanned over forty years. This critical overview of Carter's life and work explores aspects of the composer's life about which he was usually reticent--and occasionally misleading--such as his complicated relationships with Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Nicolas Nabokov, and his own parents. Schiff's study of Carter's complete oeuvre--from his politically charged Depression-era ballets to the deeply personal and reflective late works--is based
on extensive study of the composer's personal sketches and letters. Featuring an in-depth look at the legacy project of Carter's final decade, seven settings of American modernist poetry by E.E.
Cummings, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams, this newest addition to the Master Musicians Series paints with a fine brush the story of America's foremost composer of the second half of the twentieth century.
Elliott Carter (1908-2012) was the foremost composer of classical music in America during the second half of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades, he consistently produced works that critics hailed as creatively daring, intellectually demanding, and emotionally complex. Distancing himself from the various "schools" and movements that grew and waned in popularity during the postwar era, Carter cultivated a deeply personal musical
style that he developed and refined up until the very end of his life. This book of the composer springs from author David Schiff's life-long interest in Elliott Carter's music and
his close personal connection with the composer which spanned over forty years. This critical overview of Carter's life and work explores aspects of the composer's life about which he was usually reticent--and occasionally misleading--such as his complicated relationships with Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Nicolas Nabokov, and his own parents. Schiff's study of Carter's complete oeuvre--from his politically charged Depression-era ballets to the deeply personal and reflective late works--is based
on extensive study of the composer's personal sketches and letters. Featuring an in-depth look at the legacy project of Carter's final decade, seven settings of American modernist poetry by E.E.
Cummings, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams, this newest addition to the Master Musicians Series paints with a fine brush the story of America's foremost composer of the second half of the twentieth century.
Author's note
Acknowledgements
1. Elliott Carter Now
2. Remembering Mr. Carter
3. A brief life of a very long life
4. A Modernistic Education (1924-1935)
5. Musician, wrestling (1935-1945)
6. Turning Points (1946-1948)
7. Back to Modernism. Back to Futurism. Back to New York
a. Neo-modernism
b. An avant-garde composer?
c. Composer in New York
8. Carter v. Poets (round 1)
9. Macro Carter/ Micro Carter
10. Multi-vehicle Accidents
11. Bagatelles
12. Carter v. Poets (round 2)
13. Farewell Symphonies
14. Epilogue: "Every note has life in it."
Appendix: Carter's Musical Signatures
Calendars:
1. Chronology of Carter's life
2. Chronological list of Carter's published music
3. Chronology of American composers
4. Chronology of notable premiers of American classical music
Personalia
Bibliography
David Schiff is a composer, conductor, and writer. He was educated
at Columbia and Cambridge Universities, at the Manhattan School of
Music and at the Juilliard School where he studied with Elliott
Carter for three years. In addition to the two editions of his
Music of Elliott Carter, he has written books about the music of
George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, and numerous articles about
music for The New York Times,
The Atlantic Monthly, the Times Literary Supplement, and The
Nation.
"Schiff discusses works Carter composed from about 1945 onward,
offering contextualizing information, personal anecdotes, and views
into Carter's compositional methods. This makes for an absorbing,
sometimes amusing portrait of the US's most prolific contemporary
composer. Schiff's useful scholarly apparatus includes a time line
of Carter's life and compositions, dramatis personae of important
people in Carter's circle, and a thorough bibliography." --
CHOICE
"... unexpected and provocative ... The book has been expertly
edited and proofed to the best traditions of the Master Musicians
series ... Those who have Schiff's previous books will want this
too, while those seeking an introductory yet probing study could
not have been better served. Whether or not this proves to be the
author's last word on Carter, his insights and belief in this music
have left many listeners in his debt." --Richard Whitehouse,
Gramophone
"An indispensable volume for any admirer of this fascinating
American pioneer." --Misha Donat, BBC Music Magazine
"Like a photographer returning to the same image over time and
capturing changes both subtle and large-scale, David Schiff has
interpreted the revered yet enigmatic composer Elliott Carter over
the course of 35 years, viewing his work from ever-shifting
perspectives. In Carter, his first major exploration of Carter
since the composer's death, Schiff offers a whole new book that
brims with unexpected insights. Alternately admiring and ambivalent
yet continuously
revelatory, Schiff searches for the essence of Carter's voice,
delivering a trenchant critique in gorgeously shaped prose." -
Carol Oja, William Powell Mason Professor of Music, Harvard
University
"David Schiff has written a book that combines extensive research
with thoughtful speculation, sure to increase every reader's
understanding of Elliott Carter's remarkable life in music.
Elliott's continuity and consistency are revealed even though the
musical challenges were forever changing. In reading about his
early life (he was a chain-smoking stutterer), I was struck by the
challenges he faced in gaining professional acceptance (and
performances). In
the detailed description of his compositions we learn however that
challenges were also very often self-imposed. I like Schiff's
suggestion that Elliott's 'life-long impulse was to shape
musical
stories out of the life in each note', thus giving us tales galore
to ponder and delight in." - Lucy Shelton, Soprano
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