Biographical Sketch
John Alden Carpenter was born Feb. 28, 1876 in Park Ridge, Illinois. His earliest musical studies were with Amy Fay and W.C.E. Seeboeck in Chicago and J.K. Paine at Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1897. Other musical studies included a few lessons with Edward Elgar in Rome in 1906 and four years of study with Bernhard Ziehn in Chicago (1908-1912), with subsequent studies under Ziehn disciple Julius Gold in the years that followed. Like his father, Carpenter was by profession in the shipping business, serving as vice-president of the family firm George B. Carpenter & Co. until he retired in 1936 to devote himself entirely to music.
Carpenter's musical compositions include both songs and orchestral concert and stage works. His earliest orchestral work, Adventures in a Perambulator, was written in 1914 and was the first of many successes. The ballet Skyscrapers (1923-1924), performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1926, was one of the first attempts at a literal depiction of modern American urban life, and thus has been accorded a certain historical significance. Other stage works include a "jazz pantomime" entitled Krazy Kat (1921), based on the comic strip by George Herriman, and a ballet-pantomime with Spanish overtones, The Birthday of the Infanta (1917). Carpenter was also considered an outstanding composer of songs; of particular note are the song cycles Gitanjali (1913, orchestrated 1934), a setting of a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore, and Water-colors (1916, orchestrated 1918), based on the writings of Confucius and other Chinese poets. Carpenter's commissions include Song of Faith (1932) for the George Washington Bicentennial in 1932, and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge commissions of his String Quartet (1927) and Piano Quintet (1934).
Carpenter was a highly successful composer in his day, being named a Knight of the French Legion of Honor (1921) and receiving such honors as the Gold Medal of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He also received honorary degrees from Harvard University, Northwestern University, the University of Wisconsin, and the American Conservatory of Music.
Carpenter died Apr. 26, 1951, in Chicago.