Politics & Power Quote by Elliott Carter

A little complaint, a little confession, and a quiet indictment of American cultural priorities: Elliott Carter frames his point as “materialistic” to preempt the charge that he’s whining about money. It’s a classic artist’s feint. By pretending to narrow the issue to royalties, he widens it to the whole ecosystem that decides what gets heard, taught, programmed, and paid for.

“13 times” isn’t just emphasis; it’s an accounting-style statistic meant to end debate. Carter, the quintessential American modernist, is pointing to a paradox that has trailed U.S. classical music for decades: the country can produce ambitious composers, but often relies on European institutions to validate them. Europe’s state-supported orchestras, festivals, radio networks, and subsidy culture don’t merely provide bigger checks; they provide repeat performances, critical attention, and the kind of sustained listening contemporary music requires to become repertoire rather than novelty.

The subtext is bruised pride mixed with realism. Carter isn’t begging for applause; he’s documenting a market signal. America’s arts economy, more privatized and donor-driven, tends to reward safe canon and celebrity. New, thorny work has to fight for oxygen against ticket-sales anxiety and philanthropic branding. Europe, with its cultural bureaucracy and prestige machines, can afford to treat difficulty as a public good.

The line also carries an immigrant’s irony without the immigrant: an American composer discovering that “American” achievement in high art still travels through European gatekeeping. The royalties are the punchline; the real story is recognition.