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He has passed away one month short of his 104th birthday.
/works/52/1
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Post by Beagle November 5, 2012 (2 of 35)
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Carter has been reported dead before, almost annually, but Wikipedia just posted 2012 as his final Guy Fawkes Day. Nonetheless John Adams believes Carter has miles to go before he sleeps : http://www.earbox.com/posts/73 .
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Post by Fugue November 5, 2012 (3 of 35)
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Post by jdaniel November 5, 2012 (4 of 35)
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If only there were a choir good enough to sing his Requiem....
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Post by fausto K November 5, 2012 (5 of 35)
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one of the greatest!
With all due respect to the dead of course, but to me Carter was/is much much more important than the recently deceased Henze, whom I was surprised to see receive so much praise when he died (apparently in the British press more so than here in Germany, for some reason).
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Post by ramesh November 6, 2012 (6 of 35)
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Only a few months ago the Auckland chamber orchestra programmed his Symphony No 1, which I'd never heard before. Some of its rhythms and motivic cells reminded me of neoclassical Stravinsky, and others of Copland. It was extraordinary to witness in the concert hall, for 2012, a mature and accomplished work from a living composer which was penned during WW2!
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Mr. Carter's AP obituary quotes a 100th birthday interview, in which Carter told of attending a performance of the Rite of Spring in 1924. He is quoted saying, "I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard, and I wanted to do like that too." "Of course, half the audience walked out, which was even more pleasant to me." This, no doubt, explains why Mr. Carter's compositions are not often performed, although his compositional ideas certainly influenced others.
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Post by Lochiel November 6, 2012 (8 of 35)
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Euell Neverno said:
He is quoted saying, "Of course, half the audience walked out, which was even more pleasant to me."
This is a major reason why classical music gradually ceased to be a form of entertainment for the general public during the early to mid 20th century, eventually becoming much more an exercise by intellectual and social elites.
Eventually, the lack of new classical music that appealed to its dwindling audience would lead to the over-recording of the so-called core musical repetoire, causing market saturation and declining profitability amongst many classical music recording labels.
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Even during the 19th century audiences tended to listen to "modern" works, only occasionally listening to the (at the time) two B's or Mozart. With so few of today's classical compositions being "accessible," it is no wonder that we mostly listen to the works of dead composers. But I wonder if things could have been different. If Mozart or Beethoven (or Haydn or Strauss if we insist on naming popular composers) had to compete against Presley, Jagger or Spears, would they have been as popular?
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Bayside Bomber said:
Even during the 19th century audiences tended to listen to "modern" works, only occasionally listening to the (at the time) two B's or Mozart. With so few of today's classical compositions being "accessible," it is no wonder that we mostly listen to the works of dead composers. But I wonder if things could have been different. If Mozart or Beethoven (or Haydn or Strauss if we insist on naming popular composers) had to compete against Presley, Jagger or Spears, would they have been as popular?
Ummm, Spears & Presley are "only" performers not composer/performers like Jagger, Beethoven, Mozart etc.
Also, didn't Beethoven (and too many others to mention) say that contemporary audiences didn't understand their music & that they hoped people would "get it" in future generations?
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