RIP Elliott Carter

American composer Elliott Carter has passed away at the age of 103.

Here is a quote that I think is worth reflecting on from the article about his death in the New York Times:

As a young man, I harbored the populist idea of writing for the public…I learned that the public didn’t care. So I decided to write for myself. Since then, people have gotten interested.

It would be interesting to know how many of the biggest musical, theatrical, religious, scholarly, and any other sort of “successes” have been those who sought success, or who sought to be true to themselves and as a result others listened and appreciated.

Here are some of his many compositions, as a tribute: