Part 1 Surveying the compositional scene: the composer's viewpoint (1946); a further step (1958); the challenge of the new (1960-62/94); fallacy of the mechanistic approach (1946); la musique serielle aujourd'hui (1964/94); ISCM Festival, Rome (1959); Rasputin's End and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1960); letter from Europe (1963); ISCM Festival, Amsterdam (1963/94). Part 2 American music: once again swing - also American music (1939); American music in the New York scene (1940); the agony of modern music in America, 1955 (1955/94); the rhythmic basis of American music (1955); the European roots of American musical culture (1961/94); Expressionism and American music (1965/72); the composer is a university commodity (1970). Part 3 Charles Ives: the case of Mr Ives (1939); Ives today - his vision and challenge (1944); an American destiny (1946); Charles Ives remembered (1974); documents of a friendship with Ives (1975). Part 4 Some other composers: Gabriel Faure (1945); the three late sonatas of Debussy (1959/94); American figure, with landscape - Henry F. Gilbert (1943); Stravinsky in 1940; Igor Stravinsky - two tributes (1971); on Edgard Varese (1975/79); Edward Steuermann (1966); Walter Piston (1946); Roger Sessions - violin concerto (1959); in memoriam - Roger Sessions, 1896-1985 (1985/95); in memoriam - Stefan Wolpe, 1902-1972 (1972); two essays on Goffredo Petrassi (1960, 1986); to think of Milton Babbitt (1976); for Pierre Boulez on his 60th (1985). Part 5 Life and work: to be a composer in America (1953/94); the composer's choices (circa 1960); shop talk by an American composer (1960); the time dimension in music (1965); two sonatas, 1948 and 1952 (1969); string quartets No 1, 1951, and No 2, 1959 (1970); the orchestral composer's point of view (1970); on Saint-John Perse and the concerto for orchestra (1974/94); brass quintet (1974); double concerto, 1961, and duo, 1974 (1975); music and the time screen (1976); elle est la musique en personne - a reminiscence of Nadia Boulanger (circa 1985/95); reminiscence of Italy (1988). Part 6 Philosophy, criticism and the other arts: more about Balanchine (1937); with the dancers (1938); remembering Balanchine (1991/95); theatre and films (1943); the genial sage - Paul Rosenfeld (1948); introduction to a poetry reading by W.H. Auden (1969); music as a liberal art (1944); time lecture (1965/94); the Gesamtkunstwerk (1966/94); Soviet music (1967/94); music criticism (1972). Appendices: notes on sources; published writings by Carter not included in this collection.