Elliot Carter, 1908 - 2012

November 5, 2012 7:36 PM

Elliot Carter, icon of modern American classical music and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has died.

Carter influenced multiple generations of composers and performers, and was well-known for his uncompromising atonal harmonic language and rhythmic complexity.

He was 103 years old and was actively composing as recently as August.

A very few links (a small sample indeed of his music):

Double Concerto for piano and harpsichord (1961)
Piano Concerto (1964)
Night Fantasies for piano (1980)
Violin Concerto (1990)
Flute Concerto (2008)
Tintinnabulation for percussion sextet (2008)

posted by daisystomper (26 comments total)

.
posted by Egg Shen at 7:40 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by the_bone at 7:47 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by idiopath at 7:59 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by pombe at 8:55 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 9:06 PM on November 5, 2012

I also love his Wind Quintet from 1948 (only the second movement, I couldn't find the first by the same group) even though it's not really as representative as the works linked above. Sad, I thought maybe he would live forever.
posted by invitapriore at 9:12 PM on November 5, 2012

This is a sad day.

.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:19 PM on November 5, 2012

He had a long and productive life. He left us a lot of creative music to listen to.
...Thank you Elliot.
.
posted by quazichimp at 9:30 PM on November 5, 2012

Oh, sad. :-(
posted by cytherea at 9:50 PM on November 5, 2012

In the percussion world, his Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (one player) are a standard of the advanced repertoire. They are each amazing works, complex in ways and simple in others that explore the possibilities of the instrument in ways that few other works do.

.
posted by sleepinglion at 10:11 PM on November 5, 2012

The Eight Pieces are pretty great. I especially like Canto.
posted by daisystomper at 10:26 PM on November 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

So much given to us. Thanks.

.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:43 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by kenko at 10:53 PM on November 5, 2012

.
posted by monkey closet at 1:44 AM on November 6, 2012

Never cared for his music, but mad respect for his chops.

.
posted by spitbull at 3:17 AM on November 6, 2012

♫
posted by languagehat at 5:31 AM on November 6, 2012

I attended the centenary concerts at Tanglewood in '08, and Carter himself was there generously applauding the performances. The two pieces that stood out were the Variations for Orchestra and the Clarinet Concerto.

I'm as sad today as when Milton Babbitt died.

.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 6:14 AM on November 6, 2012

The Eight Pieces for Four Timpani are good fun. And his string quartets are amazing.

.
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 6:57 AM on November 6, 2012

A long, successful life. Amazing to be composing in his 90s and beyond. Also appreciate his uncompromising modernity; an intellectual program that at times seems collapsing into irrelevance. I was lucky to take a class on "music since 1968" from a professor who was a bit of a Carter protégé, or at least admirer. Working my way through one of his String Quartets and resolving it from total chaos into something I could understand and appreciate was an excellent learning experience. Honestly I've never gone back to listen to it again, but I think understanding Carter created some space for understanding Beethoven and appreciating Webern.
posted by Nelson at 7:21 AM on November 6, 2012

More links in this post from a couple years back when he turned 100.
posted by mediareport at 7:48 AM on November 6, 2012

.
posted by sleepingcbw at 8:05 AM on November 6, 2012

Carter basically was who I meant when I mentioned 'contemporary' (i.e. post-Schonberg-Stravinsky) serious music. Who will I hang that hat on now?

.
posted by jfuller at 10:39 AM on November 6, 2012

.
posted by klausness at 3:03 PM on November 6, 2012

I remember the snippet of Carter sheet music in my 20th century music textbook. Brutal stuff. I aspire to reach his tenacity and skill.
posted by spamguy at 7:37 AM on November 7, 2012

.
posted by fremen at 11:09 AM on November 7, 2012

.
posted by ob at 2:52 PM on November 9, 2012