Back to Modernism. Back to Futurism. Back to New York (1948–1975)

Carter’s mid-life oeuvre much of it composed in Europe, can be divided into three phases. From the Cello Sonata to the Variations for Orchestra he achieved a synthesis of European modernism, especially as found in the music of Schoenberg, Berg and Bartók, and American ultra-modernism; in all of these works Carter either quoted or alluded to compositions by Charles Ives. The works from the Second Quartet to the Concerto for Orchestra reflect his ambivalent connection with the European avant-garde. While he was particularly impressed with the spatial composition and expansion of percussion found in works of Boulez and Stockhausen, he rejected the algorithmic and aleatoric aspects of their music. After 1968 Carter returned to New York and became a central figure in the “uptown” new music scene. He formed a particularly close association with the new music group, Speculum Musicae.