Born in New York City, Elliott Carter revealed a strong aptitude for music before he could read or write. Undecided about his future, Carter majored in English literature at Harvard University. After graduation, he studied piano with Newton Swift and composition with Nadia Boulanger. In 1936 he wrote articles and reviews for Modern Music and served as musical director of the Ballet Caravan from 1937 to1939.
In 1953 he was awarded the Prix de Rome, and in 1956 he was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. From 1960 to 1962, Carter was a professor of composition at Yale University, where he wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning string quartet.
Carter has been described as a neoclassicist, but such a characterization reveals too little. His works are complex rhythmically; dramatic in the use of harmonies, tonality, and tone clusters; and brilliant in the exploitation of instrumental timbres. Such works as Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord (1952) are enticing, whereas the larger orchestral works, such as the Double Concerto and the Piano Concerto are sonorous, expansive events. Carter's music is complicated and deep but rewarding to listeners who invest some time in exploring its many facets.
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