The Music of Elliott Carter [Hardcover]

David Schiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1983

Arguably the most important American composer of the century, Elliott Carter often has been more highly regarded in Europe than in his native land. Interest in his work has grown rapidly in recent years, however, and the celebration of his ninetieth birthday in December, 1998, accompanied by numerous performances and new recordings, undoubtedly will increase the attention of his fellow citizens to this remarkable figure.

Authoritative and gracefully written, The Music of Elliott Carter engages composers, performers, and critics, and speaks to concert-goers, whether attuned to or alarmed by the formidable difficulty of Carter's music. David Schiff views the music from the perspective of the composer's development and relates his compositional techniques to those nonmusical arts--contemporary American poetry in particular--with which Carter has been deeply involved. The volume benefits from Schiff's extensive discussions of Carter's works with their most noted performers, including Heinz Holliger, Oliver Knussen, and Ursula Oppens, and from the generous cooperation of the composer himself.

This new edition, a thoroughly reorganized, revised, and updated version of the book published in 1983, accounts for the many new works written by Carter since 1980 and accommodates the burgeoning critical literature on his music. Its features include many musical examples and a selected discography. In addition to the new foreword, the composer has provided his listing of three-to-six note chords and a note on "Voyage."

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When David Schiff finished his overview of Elliott Carter's music in 1983, Carter was already 75 years old. No one could have predicted the flood of marvelous new pieces (including three large-scale concertos and two string quartets) the composer would produce in the intervening years. This second edition is current through April 1998 and arrives in time for the composer's 90th birthday. Schiff is the ideal guide for this repertoire: a composer himself who studied with Carter, he has also conducted the Triple Duo. His writing is stylish--in the String Quartet No. 4, he writes, the second movement "seems to begin over the first violin's repeated objections." Schiff is lucid without ever being superficial. Instead of the strictly chronological organization of the first edition, he now groups the music by genre. (This system is especially helpful in understanding the five string quartets.) Each chapter has a brief general introduction--the first few paragraphs of the vocal music chapter in particular are a model of practical musical thought. There is a technical glossary, an eight-page bibliography (which might have mentioned Andrew Porter's enthusiastic New Yorker reviews of the pieces), and an 18-page discography. Although there are a few dozen musical examples, readers will need scores to follow some of the discussion. Of necessity, Schiff describes some of the most recent music instead of analyzing it. Anyone who wishes to gain a foothold in Carter's endlessly rewarding world might listen to the excellent Chicago Symphony recording of Variations for Orchestra and follow Schiff's elegant commentary. --William R. Braun --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Schiff has thoroughly revised and updated his seminal 1983 study of contemporary American composer Elliott Carter. This new edition effectively replaces the earlier one and is particularly welcome for its inclusion of a wealth of compositions and bibliographic citations from 1981 to 1998. Its thematic organization and tightly conceived plan, eschewing descriptions of Carter's musical vocabulary in favor of a straightforward glossary, are an improvement in reader-friendliness. Detailed musical analyses of major works still form the core of the book, requiring at least some preparation on the part of the intended audience of "performers, listeners, composers, and critics." A narrative overview places Carter in the context of the literary, artistic, and musical developments of the century and shows how he drew inspiration from poets and other creative figures. A chronological list of works, an extensive bibliography, and a discography add immeasurably to this volume. Highly recommended for sophisticated music collections.?Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr; First edition (April 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0903873060
• ISBN-13: 978-0903873062
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,489,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly readable on great structural innovator, April 5, 2000

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scarecrow "scarecrow" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Music of Elliott Carter (Photos Not Included) (Hardcover)

Schiff has done a lucid job here for the readers,he writes quite well, not slipping into piles of set theory or analytical jargoneze,that speaks to a diminishing elite. Many have labeled Carter an elite creator,but that's a matter of reference(well Carter did walk out on a performance in Chicago due to Leonard Slatkin's pre-concert remarks). Schiff remarkably covers all the great Carter works, the turbulent works of the Sixties and Seventies, the darkly brooding Piano Concerto(written in West Berlin) and the Concerto for Orchestra,a Sixties work of violence, a reflection on the Anti-War Times. The latter unaccompanied solos are all here as well, all works written,for the most part after the First Edition. Schiff frequently reflects upon what works in a piece, a purely function premise that explains much, and is food for thought to any youngster hoping to someday write just like Elliot Carter. I miss the photographs from the First Edition, those with Stravinsky and Boulez, and the Carter manuscript reproductions included there. Schiff seems quite lucid in speaking about all this complexity whether rhythmic,structural or pitchbound. I didn't know for instance that Carter has kept a harmony book, sort of a creative Oracle to refer to over ones life. The chapters divide things again quite clearly, The Chamber Music, The Vocal Music, The Piano Music and Orchestral, with a nice Appendix of Carter's Listing of Three to Six Note Chords, also a Chronological Catalogue of Works, a select Bibliography and Discography, a List of Charts. A shame however is, although the winner of numerous Pulitzers, Carter until quite recent times has been neglected here in this country fighting in his home territory, the Eastern Musical Establishment and the Bernstein Clique of the Sixties and Seventies. Boulez did much to repair this damage with The New York Philharmonic and now Barenboim has in Chicago, as well as premiere ensembles,Arditti and soloists,Chas Rosen and Ms Oppens. Schiff also always points to Carter's extracurricular interests in literature, where he frequently finds an impetus for a work, as well as the Italian language for a conceptual working premise. The Glossary at the beginning also is a wonderful clarifier, of forms we frequently hear about but seldom understand within the context of the subsequent work these terms refer to.