Myths, Narratives, and Cold War Cultural Diplomacy

Laura Emmery

This Element offers a critical analysis of the history of Elliott Carter’s String Quartet No. 1 and the composer’s rise to public acclaim, not through the study of the work itself but through intriguing and captivating narratives that surround this quartet and their socio-cultural-political context, which led Carter to become one of the most dominant voices in the post-1945 American music scene. Carter’s road to success was meticulously paved by powerful institutions and individuals, including critics, scholars, festival and radio programming directors, and the US government, for whom, in the context of the Cold War, Carter was chosen to represent an exemplary American triumphant story. The author argues that it is not the quartet itself that contributed to Carter’s reception and legacy, but the inextricable narratives that we associate with this work.