Biography
Igor Stravinsky once singled out Elliott Carter's Double Concerto of 1961 as America's first authentic masterpiece, prompting some observers to rank Carter as the foremost composer born in the United States. Few figures matched the intellectual rigor he brought to composition in any period. Rhythmic intricacy formed the core of his output, an outgrowth of his sustained engagement with mathematics. He began within neo-classicism before incorporating facets of 12-tone writing and serialism. Carter originated the procedure he termed "metric modulation," which the musicologist and composer Nicolas Slonimsky portrayed as a system "in which secondary rhythms in a polyrhythmic section assume dominance expressed in constantly changing meters, often in such unusual time signatures as 10/16, 21/8, etc." His longevity and sustained productivity further magnified his significance, since he continued to produce work of undiminished strength well past his hundredth birthday.
Carter's parents acquired insurance from Charles Ives during the composer's childhood; the younger Carter subsequently prepared editions of manuscripts left by the by-then incapacitated Ives. Secondary schooling took place in New York City, after which he entered Harvard University in the late 1920s with concentrations in literature and languages. Piano study occurred at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1930 he turned to music on a full-time basis. While still enrolled at Harvard he received counterpoint instruction from Walter Piston and orchestration lessons from Edward Burlingame Hill; he also attended a seminar led by Gustav Holst in 1932. After obtaining his M.A. that year Carter proceeded to Paris, where he worked with the distinguished composition pedagogue Nadia Boulanger and continued his mathematical studies. He came back to the United States in 1935. For several years thereafter he contributed to ballet productions and to the Office of War Information. The Piano Sonata, completed in 1946, already displayed the frequent metric shifts and elaborate rhythmic designs that would mark his mature style. His scores grew no more approachable for performers or listeners over time.
Teaching occupied a substantial share of his career alongside composition. Positions included St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland (1939-1941), the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore (1946-1948), Columbia University (1948-1950), and Yale (1958-1962). He additionally served as professor-at-large at Cornell University (1967-1968). Among the honors he received were two Guggenheim fellowships (1945 and 1959) and the American Prix de Rome (1953). His String Quartet No. 2 earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1960, and String Quartet No. 3 brought a second Pulitzer in 1973. President Ronald Reagan presented him with the National Medal of the Arts in 1985. Although Carter's music never achieved the broad appeal enjoyed by contemporaries such as Aaron Copland, critics and scholars consistently accorded it serious regard. Fellow musicians likewise held him in esteem; younger composers including Oliver Knussen and Franco Donatoni have cited his influence. Elliott Carter died at his Greenwich Village residence on November 5, 2012, at the age of 103.
Carter's parents acquired insurance from Charles Ives during the composer's childhood; the younger Carter subsequently prepared editions of manuscripts left by the by-then incapacitated Ives. Secondary schooling took place in New York City, after which he entered Harvard University in the late 1920s with concentrations in literature and languages. Piano study occurred at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1930 he turned to music on a full-time basis. While still enrolled at Harvard he received counterpoint instruction from Walter Piston and orchestration lessons from Edward Burlingame Hill; he also attended a seminar led by Gustav Holst in 1932. After obtaining his M.A. that year Carter proceeded to Paris, where he worked with the distinguished composition pedagogue Nadia Boulanger and continued his mathematical studies. He came back to the United States in 1935. For several years thereafter he contributed to ballet productions and to the Office of War Information. The Piano Sonata, completed in 1946, already displayed the frequent metric shifts and elaborate rhythmic designs that would mark his mature style. His scores grew no more approachable for performers or listeners over time.
Teaching occupied a substantial share of his career alongside composition. Positions included St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland (1939-1941), the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore (1946-1948), Columbia University (1948-1950), and Yale (1958-1962). He additionally served as professor-at-large at Cornell University (1967-1968). Among the honors he received were two Guggenheim fellowships (1945 and 1959) and the American Prix de Rome (1953). His String Quartet No. 2 earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1960, and String Quartet No. 3 brought a second Pulitzer in 1973. President Ronald Reagan presented him with the National Medal of the Arts in 1985. Although Carter's music never achieved the broad appeal enjoyed by contemporaries such as Aaron Copland, critics and scholars consistently accorded it serious regard. Fellow musicians likewise held him in esteem; younger composers including Oliver Knussen and Franco Donatoni have cited his influence. Elliott Carter died at his Greenwich Village residence on November 5, 2012, at the age of 103.
Albums
