Elliott Carter, the influential American avant garde composer, has died, The New York Times reports. He was 103.
Carter's accomplishments as a composer are staggering. His body of work dates back to the 1920s, when he was mentored by the modernist titan Charles Ives, and spans several different forms, including operas, ballets, and chamber music. He was writing music right up until his death, publishing over a dozen works after turning 100 and over 40 works in his nineties. His last piece, "12 Short Epigrams", was finished in August. Among his many honors were two Pulitzer prizes, a Grammy, and a National Medal of Arts. He taught at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, Julliard, and more.
Here's Carter discussing his recent work "Two Controversies and a Conversation":
