Elliott Carter: A Centennial Celebration, and: Elliott Carter: A Centennial Portrait in Letters and Documents (review)

The first impression of Elliott Carter: A Centennial Portrait in Letters and Documents is that of a "coffee table book," with outstanding color facsimiles of more than fifty manuscripts of Carter's works, as well as a plethora of black and white photographs showing the composer with many classical music luminaries of the twentieth century. Compiled by Felix Meyer, director of the Paul Sacher Foundation (Basel, Switzer - land), and Anne C. Shreffler, chair of musicology at Harvard University, this book provides a wealth of transcriptions and reproductions of original historical documents. The Sacher Foundation gave substantial support for the book's creation and publication, and considering the wealth of information and high quality of its production, it is very reasonably priced and should be in the library of every contemporary music lover.