America’s most venerated contemporary composer turned a tremendous 103 years old last December. Elliott Carter, born in 1908, remains a strong and prolific force on the classical music scene, in spite of–or perhaps because of–his age. Carter’s music is known and loved by a huge following of musicians and listeners, and he seems to have become even more productive later in life. His good-natured longevity has endeared him to the community and made his wealth of life experience a resource equal in value to his music. Earlier in June, Carter sat down with Businessweek’s James Tarmy to discuss his thoughts on music, life, and history: past, present, and future. The interview came in anticipation of his new work, “Two Controversies and a Conversation,” which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic shortly after his June 6 conversation with Tarmy.
The interview took place in Carter’s apartment in Greenwich Village–the same apartment that he has lived in since 1945. Carter’s recollections are rife with gems of anecdotes (like the one where a French-speaking Frank Sinatra asked Stravinsky for his autograph in a Greenwich Village restaurant) and insight that only a long life can bestow. On the subject of his own longevity, Carter says, “You talk about longevity, but at this point in my life I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen in the future. After World War I, I studied in Munich. I met lots of people and we used to swear that we would never fight in a war again. I go away, and there’s Hitler. I never would have suspected that those intelligent Germans would have fallen for that — it would have never occurred to me. So who knows what’s going to happen. Mitt Romney may even get into office. God knows what would come out of that.”
Affable political ruminations aside, Carter’s perspective and experience seems to have prepared him to expect nothing and to take life as it comes. When it comes to his own musical legacy, his thoughts reflect his point of view: “Musical training leads you to the old-fashioned idea that the composer is writing for the future, and that he’ll be recognized like Brahms was. Well, that’s false. Sometimes I think that somebody will understand my music 10 years from now, but I’m not sure.” Of his composing, he says, “I always conceived of composition as an adventure, and each one of my pieces is an adventure in a certain direction. They’re still an adventure.” Perhaps it’s this sense of adventure that has kept Mr. Carter so young–it’s certainly what keeps his music as fresh and interesting as ever.
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