Carter
- Author: Schiff
An indispensable volume for any admirer of this fascinating American pioneer
Carter
- Author: Schiff
Purchase product
An indispensable volume for any admirer of this fascinating American pioneer
About
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 musicalstyle that he developed and refined up until the very end of his life.
This book 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 hispolitically 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.
Contents
- 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
Awards and reviews
An indispensable volume for any admirer of this fascinating American pioneer
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
