Elite Composer

In the jungly world of music, there is a sort of composers' elite, whose members are deeply respected but relatively obscure. They are the composers who more often than not will be "discovered" by the public after they die, as was Bela Bartok. They get few performances because a) they write few works, b) they are constitutionally unsuited to the rigors of promoting performances, c) their music sounds forbiddingly difficult, and is twice as difficult to play. A member of this elite in good standing is Manhattan's Elliott Cook Carter,* who, at 47, is just coming into his own: a recording of his String Quartet by the Walden Quartet is being released (by Columbia) in June; another of a suite from the music for his ballet The Minotaur, played by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra, has just been released (by Mercury); and the Louisville Orchestra this week recorded his imposing new Variations for Orchestra.

Skulking, Swirling, Staggering. Carter's works, old and new, are written uncompromisingly in the counterpoint of dissonance and paced by skulking, staggering, swirling rhythms. The Minotaur (1946) throws listeners into an unnerving, outworldish mood with its first heavy notes, seems to approach every sound with a fresh attitude as the music tumbles along. The Quartet (1951), though far less accommodating, manages to achieve a satisfying interplay of tension and repose while carrying a quadrilogue at four different tempos simultaneously. High point is the slow movement, with a serene duo that floats calmly past the violent thrusts of the other two voices. The Variations for Orchestra (1955) is a big (25 minutes), brilliant work as rich in detail--but not so grotesque--as a Hieronymus Bosch painting.

Carter deliberately concentrates on originality instead of themes or ideas already proved. "You don't get any money from this profession anyway," he says in an assertive manner that conflicts with his shy appearance. "You might as well do things that amuse you. It takes me a long time to write a piece of music--anywhere from months to years--and simple ideas would bore me before I got through. Anyway, I want to invent something I haven't heard before."

Man Catches Fire. Composer Carter took on his musical studies comparatively late in life, after he became an English major at Harvard in 1926. Those were the years when Serge Koussevitzky was leading the Boston Symphony through the most radical new music, and Carter caught fire. His first major work was a ballet, Pocahontas, in an advanced idiom; then came a symphony, a piano sonata (written on a Guggenheim grant), choral works and chamber music. Today he has a backlog of commissions that will keep him busy for another year.

Chamber music has been Elliott Carter's most successful field so far. He tends to mistrust the musical stage because it depends on so many people (but he yet may write an opera), and his orchestral works take too many rehearsals to be much performed. Nevertheless, he has no inclination to write for quick success. As the only son of a well-to-do Manhattan lace importer, he inherited an income, and, in addition, he has made a pleasant discovery: "The music I like to write turns out to be the most popular anyway."

Others: Roger Sessions, Leon Kirchner, Milton Babbitt, Andrew Imbrie.

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