Elliot Cartar, famous for ballet Pocahontas and his first opera, “What Next?” was one of the most eloquent voice and the most important post-World War II American composer. His quasi-neo-classical style has always demonstrated his forceful and eloquent voice.
In 1930 he completed his initial studies at the Horace Mann School and Harvard, where he acquired a BA in English.
After completing his studies at the Gustav Holst and Walter Piston, he acquired an MA in music. He also obtahined private lessons from the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris.
Modern music always appealed Carter’s imagination, but he also conducted choral concerts in Paris and sang in the madrigal group. Apart from his passion for music, Carter was also interested in other subjects including mathematics, languages and literature.
... show more
Elliot Cartar, famous for ballet Pocahontas and his first opera, “What Next?” was one of the most eloquent voice and the most important post-World War II American composer. His quasi-neo-classical style has always demonstrated his forceful and eloquent voice.
In 1930 he completed his initial studies at the Horace Mann School and Harvard, where he acquired a BA in English.
After completing his studies at the Gustav Holst and Walter Piston, he acquired an MA in music. He also obtahined private lessons from the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris.
Modern music always appealed Carter’s imagination, but he also conducted choral concerts in Paris and sang in the madrigal group. Apart from his passion for music, Carter was also interested in other subjects including mathematics, languages and literature.
Between 1937 and 1939, Carter took the role of a musical director of the Ballet Caraven. But, he was also inclined to teaching. For three decades Carter held an impressive variety of teaching posts in (in chronological order): St. John's College, Annapolis (1940-1942); the Peabody Conservatory (1946-1948); Columbia University (1948-1950); Queen's College, New York (1955-1956); Yale University (1960-1962); the American Academy in Rome (1963 and 1967); and the Juilliard School (1972).The brilliance of Carter won him many honors and awards including Pulitzer Prizes for his quartets in the 1960 and 1970, two Guggenheim fellowships, foundation grants, many honorary doctorates from most recognized universities, and a Prix de Rome.
Carter’s early style were demonstrated in his Holiday Overture (1944) and ballet Pocahontas, which was written for the Ballet Caravan. His early styles were more of a fusion of the American populism of Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky’s neo-Classicism. His Piano Sonata in 1946 and Cello Sonata in 1948 concentrated more on rhythmic complexity and dissonance and showed a distinct style of Carters music. His other significant works including the String Quartet No.1 (1951), Variations for Orchestra (1954-55), the fouble concerto (1961) demonstrated carter’s “Metrical Modulation”.
The late ‘70s and ‘80s saw Carter develop a wide variety of concertos chamber, symphonic works and solo pieces. He also wrote a total of five quartets. One of his most amazing works was “What Next?” his first music opera which was created at the age of 90.
show less