CARTER, Elliott
b New York, 11 December 1908
He was educated at Harvard from 1926 to 1932, and then from 1932 to 1935 he studied in Paris at the Ecole Normale de Musique and with Boulanger. On returning to the USA he became musical director of the Ballet Caravan until 1940; until 1942 he was on the teaching staff of St John's College, Annapolis. From 1943 to 1944 he worked as a consultant in the Office of War Information, and in 1945 won a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was professor of composition at the Peabody Conservatory from 1946 to 1948, and at Columbia University until 1950. He then retired to the seclusion of Arizona to compose. In 1955/6 he was professor of composition at Queens College, New York; in 1958 he taught at the Salzburg Seminars; and from 1960 to 1962 was professor of composition at Yale. In 1963 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was appointed composer-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, taking a similar appointment in Berlin in 1964. In 1972 he was appointed to teach composition at the Juillard School. He holds many honorary doctorates.
1934 (25)
Flute Sonata (withdrawn)
Tom and Lily, oratorio (incomplete)
1936 (27)
Incidental Music to Sophocles (unpublished)
Mostellaria, for tenor, baritone, male chorus and chamber orchestra (unpublished)
Pocahontas, ballet
1937 (28)
The Ball Room Guide, for orchestra
English Horn Concerto (incomplete)
The Bridge, oratorio (incomplete)
Let's Go Gay, for female voices and two pianos (unpublished)
Harvest horn e, for unaccompanied voices (unpublished)
To Music, for unaccompanied voices (unpublished)
1938 (29)
Prelude, Fanfare and Polka for small orchestra (unpublished)
Heart not so Heavy as Mine, for unaccompanied voices (unpublished)
Musical Studies (withdrawn)
Tell Me, Where is Fancy Bred? for alto and guitar
1939 (30)
Canonic Suite for four saxophones
1940 (31)
Pastorale for cor anglais, horn, viola, cello and piano
1942 (33)
Symphony No 1 (revised 1954)
The Defense of Corinth, for speaker, male voices and piano
1943 (34)
Three Poems of Robert Frost, for voice and piano
Warble for Lilac Time, for voice and piano or small orchestra
Voyage, for mezzo or baritone and piano
1944 (35)
Holiday Overture (revised 1961)
The Harmony of Morning, for female voices and small orchestra
1945 (36)
Musicians Wrestle Everywhere, for voices and strings
1945-6 (36-7)
Piano Sonata
1947 (38)
The Minotaur, ballet
Emblems, for male voices and piano 1
948 (39)
Wind Quintet
Sonata for cello and piano 1
950 (41)
Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon
1950-1 (41-2)
String Quartet No 1
1950-6 (41-7)
Eight Pieces for four timpani (one player)
1952 (43)
Sonata for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord
Elegy for strings
1954 (45)
Symphony No 1, Revised version
1954-5 (45-6)
Variations for orchestra
1959 (50)
String Quartet No 2
1961 (52)
Double concerto for harpsichord and piano
Holiday Overture, Revised version
1964-5 (55-6)
Piano Concerto
1969 (60)
Concerto for orchestra
1971 (62)
String Quartet No 3
Canon for Three
1973-4 (64-5)
Duo for violin and piano 1
974 (65)
Brass Quintet
Fantasy on Purcell's Fantasy on One Note, for brass quintet
1975 (66)
A Mirror on Which to Dwell, for soprano and ensemble
1976-7 (67-8)
A Symphony of Three Orchestras
1978 (69)
Syringa, for mezzo or baritone and eleven instruments
1981 (72)
In Sleep, In Thunder, for tenor and fourteen instruments
1983 (74)
Triple Duo
Changes, for guitar
1984 (75)
Canon For 4, 'Homage to William', for flute, bass clarinet, violin and cello
Riconoscenza, for solo violin