Author Description
This Text Surveys The Life And Work Of The Great American Composer Elliott Carter (1908-2012). It Examines His Formative, And Often Ambivalent, Engagements With Charles Ives And Other 'ultra-modernists', With The Classicist Ideas He Encountered At Harvard And In His Three Years Of Study With Nadia Boulanger In Paris; And With The Populism Developed By His Friends Aaron Copland And Marc Blitzstein In Depression-era New York, And The Unique Synthesis Of Modernist Idioms That He Began To Develop In The Late 1940s. David Schiff. Previously Issued In Print: 2018. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
How did Elliott Carter reconcile disparate musical influences to forge a singular modernist language that defined twentieth-century American composition? David Schiff, a scholar and musicologist, provides a comprehensive examination of Carter's trajectory from his early associations with the ultra-modernist movement to his mature, complex stylistic synthesis. The text utilizes historical context, archival research, and technical analysis of Carter's scores to map the evolution of his aesthetic philosophy against the backdrop of American cultural shifts.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of Carter's formative years at Harvard and his studies with Nadia Boulanger.
- Examination of the influence of Charles Ives and the ultra-modernist circle.
- Discussion of the populist trends in Depression-era New York music.
- Technical breakdown of the development of Carter's unique modernist idioms in the late 1940s.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the evolution of Carter's musical language rather than an exhaustive day-to-day personal biography.
- It does not provide a comprehensive performance history of every individual work in the composer's catalog.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and musicologists recognize this work as a definitive resource for understanding the intellectual and technical development of one of America's most significant composers. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is well-suited for students and professionals seeking a rigorous analysis of twentieth-century musical modernism.
Page Count:
0
Publication Date:
1900-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press,
ISBN-10:
0190259183
ISBN-13:
9780190259181
Biography
Music
Composer Studies
Composers
Music History