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Elliott Carter

Elliott Carter Quotes

Composer

Elliott Carter was a prominent American composer recognized for his avant-garde and serialist compositions. His career spanned seven decades, and he was one of the longest-lived composers, passing away at the age of 103. Carter's works are noted for their complex rhythms, intricate structures, and a fusion of modernist and tonal elements.

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Famous Elliott Carter Quotes

“When people listen to my music, I hope that they will notice that if you take a piece by a composer like Schubert, the major and the minor triad is an extermely important thing not merely as harmony, but in creating melodic lines. Schubert is always walking up and down with arpeggios on C, E, G and so forth. I am not doing anything different really, except using a different system of harmony.”

People Ifs Important Different Lines Pieces Walking Creating Majors Harmony Important Things Composer Minors Up And Down Schubert Triads

Author:Elliott Carter

“My musical life started with hearing and being fascinated by contemporary music.”

Musical Hearing Contemporary Fascinated Musical Life Contemporary Music

Author:Elliott Carter

“The first thing that struck me about contemporary music in general had been thatthere was not much interest in rhythm.”

Firsts Interest Contemporary Rhythm Contemporary Music

Author:Elliott Carter

“When I was in Paris, all of the German refugees began to flow in and it was a very sad time.”

Flow Paris Refugee Very Sad Sad Times

Author:Elliott Carter

“Since I'm allergic to various things, the army wouldn't accept me during the war, and I got into the Office of War Information, which sent music to Europe.”

War Accepting Information Office Europe Army Various Allergic Accept Me

Author:Elliott Carter

“Why write for the orchestra? For one thing it's a very challenging problem.”

Writing Problem Challenges One Thing Orchestra

Author:Elliott Carter

“Well when I was young, when I was very young, when I was a little boy I don't remember the music I heard, but there was an article in the Brooklyn Daily written by my Aunt about how I could choose phonograph records.”

Wells Littles Remember Young Boys Records Written Heard Articles Aunt Brooklyn Little Boys Phonograph

Author:Elliott Carter

“My entire life has really revolved around music that was written about the time that I was born, 1908, to just before the First World War and shortly after it. This music I've always known, and it is that music that's most important to me.”

World Firsts Important War Born Known Written War Of The Worlds First World War

Author:Elliott Carter

“Silences between movements are employed only in order to bring the opposing duo to the fore.”

Order Silence Movement Silence Is Employed Opposing Duos

Author:Elliott Carter

“Talking about a materialistic thing, I get about 13 times more royalties from Europe than I do from America.”

America Talking Europe Royalty Materialistic Materialistic Things

Author:Elliott Carter

“Yes, I get a report from BMI about the frequency of performances, and it is very surprising. They played one of my most advanced pieces, and one of my most unusual ones on the radio.”

Pieces Performances Radio Reports Unusual Surprising Frequency

Author:Elliott Carter

“Almost every one of my various zero numbered birthdays has had a big concert in London and often in Paris.”

Bigs Various London Paris Zero Concerts

Author:Elliott Carter

“That was one of the big problems when I was at Harvard studying music. We had to write choral pieces in the style of Brahms or Mendelssohn, which was distressing because in the end you realized how good Brahms is, and how bad you are.”

Writing Ends Problem Bigs Study Pieces Style Harvard Big Problems Distressing Brahms Mendelssohn Studying Music

Author:Elliott Carter

“Aaron Copland was a man that had a very specific point of view about what music should be which was that, he felt that new music should have the composer should show a personality in his music.”

Men Should Shows Felt Views Personality Should Have Point Of View Composer New Music

Author:Elliott Carter

“Right at the end of the war I wrote a piano sonata, which was written at a time when Sam Barber used to come down here and we used to have lunch together in a very nice old hotel that's now not there.”

War Ends Together Used Nice Written Piano Hotel Lunch Very Nice Barbers Sonatas

Author:Elliott Carter

“The Third Quartet I made the instruments in pairs - Two different pairs - Violin and viola, and violin and cello. They played very different things from each other all through the whole piece.”

Made Two Different Whole Pieces Thirds Instruments Different Things Pairs Violin Quartets Viola String Quartets

Author:Elliott Carter

“The Quartets have been a major part of my work.”

Has Beens Majors Quartets

Author:Elliott Carter

About the Author

Born: December 11, 1908
Died: November 5, 2012
Known for: Composer
Quotes: 17

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