Music: Elite Composer

In the jungly world of music, there is a sort of composers' elite, whose members are deeply respected but relatively obscure. They are the composers who more often than not will be "discovered" by the public after they die, as was Bela Bartok. They get few performances because a) they write few works, b) they are constitutionally unsuited to the rigors of promoting performances, c) their music sounds forbiddingly difficult, and is twice as difficult to play. A member of this elite in good standing is Manhattan's Elliott Cook Carter,* who, at 47, is just coming into his own: a recording...

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