Elliott Carter's late short pieces are usually written for a very small number of instruments.

Judged as of 2004-09-05. 'Late short pieces' means short works Elliott Carter composed in roughly the 1990s to 2004. True: a catalogue of those works shows that most (more than half) are for solo instrument, duo, trio or similarly small forces (about five players or fewer). Mostly true: a clear plurality but not a majority, or a majority only if 'very small' is taken as up to about six or seven players. Mixed: roughly half are for small forces and half for larger ensembles or orchestra. Mostly false: most are for chamber ensembles, orchestra or larger forces, with small-instrumentation pieces a minority. False: few of his late short pieces are for small forces.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 List of compositions by Elliott Carter - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 5 August 2016

   “- Esprit rude/esprit doux II for flute, clarinet, and marimba (1994) - Fragment I for string quartet (1994) - String Quartet No. 5 (1995) - Luimen for ensemble (1997) - Quintet for piano and string quartet (1997) - Fragment II for string quartet (1999)”

2. E2 List of compositions by Elliott Carter - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 5 August 2016

   “- Scrivo in Vento for flute (1991) - Gra for clarinet, also version for trombone (1994) - Figment for cello (1994) - A 6-letter Letter for English horn (1996) - Shard for guitar (1997)”

3. E3 Elliott Carter’s Eighties (1989 – 1998) Charles Petzold (blog) · 10 December 2008

   “But this decade also includes several works for large orchestral forces, and Elliott Carter ended his eighties by writing his first opera.”

4. E4 Composer Brochure | Works Boosey & Hawkes · 2008

   “Nor, probably, could anyone have guessed that this change would give rise to an even more prolific outpouring of works of all sizes and shapes than Carter had ever previously managed.”

The catalogue excerpts in E1 and E2 list Carter's works from 1991–1999. Nearly all the short pieces among them are for small forces: five solo pieces (Scrivo in Vento, Gra, Figment, A 6-letter Letter, Shard), a trio (Esprit rude/esprit doux II), and two string-quartet Fragments. Only Luimen, listed simply as "for ensemble," may be larger. E3 notes that Carter also wrote large orchestral works in that decade, but it does not show that they were short pieces. The excerpts leave out 2000–2004 and may not be the complete catalogue, so the verdict is mostly true rather than true.