Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer,

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

Biography

Babbitt was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to Albert E. Babbitt and Sarah Potamkin, who were Jewish. He was raised in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, and began studying the violin when he was four but soon switched to clarinet and saxophone. Early in his life he was attracted to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and theater music, and "played in every pit-orchestra that came to town". Babbitt was making his own arrangements of popular songs by age 7, "wrote a lot of pop tunes for school productions", and won a local songwriting contest when he was 13. A Jackson newspaper called Babbitt a "whiz kid" and noted "that he had perfect pitch and could add up his family’s grocery bills in his head. In his teens he became a great fan of jazz cornet player Bix Beiderbecke." Babbitt's father was a mathematician, and Babbitt intended to study mathematics when he entered the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1931. But he soon transferred to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, where he studied music with

Philip James Philip Frederick Wright James (May 17, 1890 – November 1, 1975) was an American composer, conductor and music educator. Life James was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. At an early age he began piano, violin and theory lessons, and served as ...

and

Marion Bauer Marion Eugénie Bauer (15 August 1882 – 9 August 1955) was an American composer, teacher, writer, and music critic. She played an active role in shaping American musical identity in the early half of the twentieth century. As a composer, ...

. There he became interested in the music of the composers of the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna. ...

and wrote articles on

twelve-tone music The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

, including the first description of

combinatoriality In music using the twelve tone technique, combinatoriality is a quality shared by twelve-tone tone rows whereby each section of a row and a proportionate number of its transformations combine to form aggregates (all twelve tones). Whittall, Arnold ...

and a serial "time-point" technique. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from

New York University College of Arts & Science The New York University College of Arts & Science (CAS) is the primary liberal arts college of New York University (NYU). The school is located near Gould Plaza next to the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Stern School of Busines ...

in 1935 with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honors, he studied under

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

, first privately and then at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He joined Princeton's music faculty in 1938 and received one of Princeton's first Master of Fine Arts degrees in 1942. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Babbitt divided his time between mathematical research in Washington, D.C., and Princeton, where he was a member of the mathematics faculty from 1943 to 1945. In 1948, Babbitt returned to Princeton's music faculty and in 1973 he joined the faculty of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. Among his more notable students are music theorists

David Lewin David Benjamin Lewin (July 2, 1933 – May 5, 2003) was an American music theorist, music critic and composer. Called "the most original and far-ranging theorist of his generation", he did his most influential theoretical work on the development of ...

and

John Rahn John Rahn, born on February 26, 1944, in New York City, is a music theorist, composer, bassoonist, and Professor of Music at the University of Washington School of Music, Seattle. A former student of Milton Babbitt and Benjamin Boretz, he was edito ...

, composers

Bruce Adolphe Bruce Adolphe (born May 31, 1955) is a composer, music scholar, the author of several books on music, and pianist. He is currently Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and founder and crea ...

Michael Dellaira Michael Dellaira (born August 5, 1949) is an American composer. He is a citizen of the United States and Italy and resides in New York City with his wife, the writer Brenda Wineapple. Early life and career Dellaira was born Michael Dellario in S ...

Kenneth Fuchs Kenneth Daniel Fuchs (born July 1, 1956) is a Grammy Award-winning American composer. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut (Storrs). Music Kenneth Fuchs's fifth Naxos recording with the London ...

Laura Karpman Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959) is an American composer, whose work has included music for film, television, video games, theater, and the concert hall. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work. Karpman was trained at The Juilliard Sch ...

Paul Lansky Paul Lansky (born June 18, 1944, in New York) is an American composer. Biography Paul Lansky (born 1944) is an American composer. He was educated at Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, Queens College and Princeton University, studying wit ...

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and p ...

John Melby John Melby (born 1941) is an American composer. Life and work John Melby is most widely known for his numerous compositions for computer-synthesized sounds, particularly in combination with live acoustic instruments. In addition to electronic mu ...

Kenneth Lampl Kenneth Lampl (born November 7, 1964) is an American composer and lecturer known for his film, television and choral music. He is the former head of the Australian National University School of Music. Biography Born in the Bronx, New York, La ...

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, artistic director, and pianist, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas'', as well as his operas ''Emmeline'', ''Fantastic Mr. ...

, and J. K. Randall, the theater composer

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

, composers and pianists

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

and

Richard Aaker Trythall Richard Aaker Trythall (July 25, 1939 – December 21, 2022) was an American and Italian composer and pianist of contemporary classical music. Early life and education Trythall was born on July 25, 1939 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the younger b ...

, and the jazz guitarist and composer

Stanley Jordan Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands. Music career Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...

. In 1958, Babbitt achieved unsought notoriety through an article in the popular magazine '' High Fidelity''. His title for the article was "The Composer as Specialist" (as it was later published several times) but, he said, "The editor, without my knowledge and—therefore—my consent or assent, replaced my title by the more 'provocative' one: '

Who Cares if You Listen "Who Cares if You Listen?" is an article written by the American composer Milton Babbitt (1916–2011) and published in the February, 1958, issue of '' High Fidelity''. Titled by Babbitt as "The Composer as Specialist" (and subsequently retitled b ...

?', a title which reflects little of the letter and nothing of the spirit of the article". More than 30 years later, he said, "For all that the true source of that offensively vulgar title has been revealed many times, in many ways, even—eventually—by the offending journal itself, I still am far more likely to be known as the author of 'Who Cares if You Listen?' than as the composer of music to which you may or may not care to listen". Around 1960, Babbitt became interested in

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

hired him as consultant composer to work with its

RCA Mark II Synthesizer The RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer (nicknamed ''Victor'') was the first programmable electronic synthesizer and the flagship piece of equipment at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, wit ...

at the

Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center The Computer Music Center (CMC) at Columbia University is the oldest center for electronic and computer music research in the United States. It was founded in the 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Location The CMC is hous ...

(known since 1996 as the Columbia University Computer Music Center). In 1961 he produced his ''Composition for Synthesizer'', marking the beginning of a second period in his output. Babbitt was less interested in producing new timbres than in the rhythmic precision he could achieve with the synthesizer, a degree of precision previously unobtainable in performance. Through the 1960s and 1970s Babbitt wrote both electronic music and music for conventional

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s, often combining the two. ''

Philomel Philomel is another name for Philomela, a character from Greek mythology. It may refer to: Nature * A nightingale Arts and Letters * An abbreviated form of the name Philomela, a figure in Greek mythology often invoked as a symbol in literature. * ...

'' (1964), for example, is for soprano and a synthesized accompaniment (including the recorded and manipulated voice of

Bethany Beardslee Bethany Beardslee (born December 25, 1925) is an American soprano particularly noted for her collaborations with major 20th-century composers, such as Igor Stravinsky, Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez, George Perle, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and her ...

, for whom the piece was composed) stored on

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...

. By the end of the 1970s Babbitt was beginning his third creative period by shifting his focus away from electronic music, the genre that first gained for him public notice. Like most dodecaphonic music, Babbitt's compositions are typically considered atonal, but it has also been shown that, especially in his third-period music, notes from his serial structures (all-partition arrays and superarrays) are sometimes arranged and coordinated to forge tonal chords, cadential phrases, simulated tonal voice-leading, and other tonal allusions, allowing for double meaning (serial and tonal), like many of his composition titles. This phenomenon of "double meaning" of notes (pitches) in the context of his double-meaning titles has been called ''portmantonality''. From 1985 until his death Babbitt served as the Chairman of the BMI Student Composer Awards, the international competition for young classical composers. A resident of

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, he died there on January 29, 2011, at age 94. Filmmaker

Robert Hilferty Robert Hilferty (December 14, 1959 – July 24, 2009) was an American journalist, filmmaker, and AIDS activist based in New York City. Career Hilferty began his career in 1988 working as a production assistant for Robert Altman on ''The Cai ...

's ''Babbitt: Portrait of a Serial Composer'' broadly depicts Babbitt’s thinking, attitudes about his past and then-current work in footage largely from 1991-1992. The film was not completed and fully edited until 2010, and was presented on NPR online upon Babbitt’s death.Babbitt: Portrait of a Serial Composer
/ref>

Honors and awards

* 1965 – Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

* 1974 – Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

* 1982 –

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

, Special Citation, "for his life's work as a distinguished and seminal American composer" * 1986 –

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

* 1988 –

Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) is a privately funded foundation created to recognize annually the greatest accomplishments in art, music, literature, and photography among Mississippians. The idea was conceived by, among others ...

Award for music composition * 2000 – National Patron of

Delta Omicron Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship. History Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 at ...

, an international, professional music fraternity * 2010 – The Max Reger Foundation of America – Extraordinary Life Time Musical Achievement Award

Articles

*(1955). "Some Aspects of Twelve-Tone Composition". ''The Score and I.M.A. Magazine'' 12:53–61. *(1958).
Who Cares if You Listen?
. '' High Fidelity'' (February). abbitt called this article "The Composer as Specialist". The original title was changed without his knowledge or permission by an editor at ''High Fidelity''.*(1960). "Twelve-Tone Invariants as Compositional Determinants," ''

The Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'' 46/2. *(1961). "Set Structure as Compositional Determinant," ''

Journal of Music Theory The ''Journal of Music Theory'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established by David Kraehenbuehl (Yale University) in 1957. According to its website, " e ''Journal of Music Theory'' fosters c ...

'' 5/1. *(1965). "The Structure and Function of Musical Theory," ''College Music Symposium'' 5. *(1972). "Contemporary Music Composition and Music Theory as Contemporary Intellectual History", ''Perspectives in Musicology: The Inaugural Lectures of the Ph. D. Program in Music at the City University of New York'', edited by Barry S. Brook, Edward Downes, and Sherman Van Solkema, 270–307. New York: W. W. Norton. . Reprinted, New York: Pendragon Press, 1985. . *(1987) ''Words About Music: The Madison Lectures'', edited by Stephen Dembski and Joseph Straus. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. *(1992) "The Function of Set Structure in the Twelve-Tone System." PhD Dissertation. Princeton: Princeton University. *(2003). ''The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt'', edited by Stephen Peles, Stephen Dembski, Andrew Mead, Joseph Straus. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

List of compositions

First period

*1935 ''Generatrix'' for orchestra (unfinished) *1939–41 String Trio *1940 ''Composition for String Orchestra'' (unfinished) *1941 Symphony (unfinished) *1941 ''Music for the Mass I'' for mixed chorus *1942 ''Music for the Mass II'' for mixed chorus *1946 ''Fabulous Voyage'' (musical, libretto by Richard Koch) *1946 ''Three Theatrical Songs'' for voice and piano (taken from Fabulous Voyage) *1947 ''Three Compositions for Piano'' *1948 ''

Composition for Four Instruments ''Composition for Four Instruments'' (1948) is an early serial music composition written by American composer Milton Babbitt. It is Babbitt's first published ensemble work, following shortly after his ''Three Compositions for Piano'' (1947). In ...

'' *1948 String Quartet No. 1 (withdrawn) *1948 ''

Composition for Twelve Instruments ''Composition for Twelve Instruments'' (1948, rev. 1954) is a Serialism, serial music composition written by American composer Milton Babbitt for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, celesta, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. I ...

'' *1949 ''Into the Good Ground'' film music (withdrawn) *1950 ''Composition for Viola and Piano'' *1951 ''The Widow's Lament in Springtime'' for soprano and piano *1951 ''Du'' for soprano and piano,

August Stramm August Stramm (29 July 1874 – 1 September 1915) was a German war poet and playwright who is considered the first of the expressionists. Stramm's radically experimental verse and his major influence on all subsequent German poetry has caused him ...

*1953 Woodwind Quartet *1954 String Quartet No. 2 *1954 ''Vision and Prayer'' for soprano and piano (unpublished, unperformed) *1955 ''Two Sonnets'' for baritone, clarinet, viola, and cello, two poems of

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

*1956 Duet for piano *1956 ''Semi-Simple Variations'' for piano *1957 ''

All Set ''All Set'' is the fifth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After standardising their line-up of vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker for the band's previous album ''T ...

'' for jazz ensemble (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone, contrabass, piano, vibraphone, and percussion) *1957 ''Partitions'' for piano *1960 ''Composition for Tenor and Six Instruments'' *1960 ''Sounds and Words'' for soprano and piano

Second period

*1961 ''Composition for Synthesizer'' *1961 ''Vision and Prayer'' for soprano and synthesized tape, setting of a poem by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

*1964 ''

'' for soprano, recorded soprano, synthesized tape, setting of a poem by

John Hollander John Hollander (October 28, 1929 – August 17, 2013) was an American poet and literary critic. At the time of his death, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University, having previously taught at Connecticut College, Hunter C ...

*1964 ''Ensembles for Synthesizer'' *1965 ''Relata I'' for orchestra *1966 ''Post-Partitions'' for piano *1966 ''Sextets'' for violin and piano *1966 ''Play on Notes'' for bells and voice *1967 ''

Correspondences Correspondence may refer to: *In general usage, non-concurrent, remote communication between people, including letters, email, newsgroups, Internet forums, blogs. Science *Correspondence principle (physics): quantum physics theories must agree w ...

'' for string orchestra and synthesized tape *1968 ''Relata II'' for orchestra *1968–69 ''Four Canons'' for SA *1969 ''Phonemena'' for soprano and piano *1970 String Quartet No. 3 *1970 String Quartet No. 4 *1968–71 ''Occasional Variations'' for synthesized tape *1972 ''Tableaux'' for piano *1974 ''Arie da capo'' for five instrumentalists *1975 ''Reflections'' for piano and synthesized tape *1975 ''Phonemena'' for soprano and synthesized tape *1976 Concerti for violin, small orchestra, synthesized tape *1976 ''A Birthday Double Canon'' for SATB *1977 ''A Solo Requiem'' for soprano and two pianos *1977 ''Minute Waltz (or 3/4 ± 1/8)'' for piano *1977 ''Playing for Time'' for piano *1978 ''My Ends Are My Beginnings'' for solo clarinet *1978 ''My Complements to Roger'' for piano *1978 ''More Phonemena'' for twelve-part chorus *1978 ''Eppesithalamium'' for solo cello *1979 ''An Elizabethan Sextette'' for six-part women's chorus *1979 ''Images'' for saxophonist and synthesized tape

Third period

*1979 ''Paraphrases'' for ten instrumentalists *1980 ''Dual'' for cello and piano *1981 ''Ars Combinatoria'' for small orchestra *1981 ''Don'' for four-hand piano *1982 ''The Head of the Bed'' for soprano and four instruments *1982 String Quartet No. 5 *1982 ''Melismata'' for solo violin *1982 ''About Time'' for piano *1983 ''Canonical Form'' for piano *1983 ''Groupwise'' for flautist and four instruments *1984 ''Four Play'' for four players *1984 ''It Takes Twelve to Tango'' for piano *1984 ''Sheer Pluck'' (composition for guitar) *1985 Concerto for piano and orchestra *1985 ''Lagniappe'' for piano *1986 ''Transfigured Notes'' for string orchestra *1986 ''The Joy of More Sextets'' for piano and violin *1987 ''Three Cultivated Choruses'' for four-part chorus *1987 ''Fanfare'' for double brass sextet *1987 ''Overtime'' for piano *1987 ''Souper'' for speaker and ensemble *1987 ''Homily'' for snare drum *1987 ''Whirled Series'' for saxophone and piano *1988 ''In His Own Words'' for speaker and piano *1988 ''The Virginal Book'' for contralto and piano, setting of a poem by

*1988 ''Beaten Paths'' for solo marimba *1988 ''Glosses for Boys' Choir'' *1988 ''The Crowded Air'' for eleven instruments *1989 ''Consortini'' for five players *1989 ''Play It Again, Sam'' for solo viola *1989 ''Emblems (Ars Emblematica)'', for piano *1989 ''Soli e duettini'' for two guitars *1989 ''Soli e duettini'' for flute and guitar *1990 ''Soli e duettini'' for violin and viola *1990 ''Envoi'' for four hands, piano *1991 ''Preludes, Interludes, and Postlude'' for piano *1991 ''Four Cavalier Settings'' for tenor and guitar *1991 ''Mehr "Du"'' for soprano, viola and piano *1991 ''None but the Lonely Flute'' for solo flute *1992 ''Septet, But Equal'' *1992 ''Counterparts'' for brass quintet *1993 ''Around the Horn'' for solo horn *1993 ''Quatrains'' for soprano and two clarinets *1993 ''Fanfare for All'' for brass quintet *1993 String Quartet No. 6 *1994 ''Triad'' for viola, clarinet, and piano *1994 ''No Longer Very Clear'' for soprano and four instruments, setting of a poem by

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

*1994 ''Tutte le corde'' for piano *1994 ''Arrivals and Departures'' for two violins *1994 ''Accompanied Recitative'' for soprano sax and piano *1995 ''Manifold Music'' for organ *1995 ''Bicenquinquagenary Fanfare'' for brass quintet *1995 Quartet for piano and string trio *1996 Quintet for clarinet and string quartet *1996 ''Danci'' for solo guitar *1996 ''When Shall We Three Meet Again?'' for flute, clarinet and vibraphone *1998 Piano Concerto No. 2 *1998 ''The Old Order Changeth'' for piano *1999 ''Composition for One Instrument'' for celesta *1999 ''Allegro Penseroso'' for piano *1999 ''Concerto Piccolino'' for vibraphone *2000 ''Little Goes a Long Way'' for violin and piano *2000 ''Pantuns'' for soprano and piano *2001 ''A Lifetime or So'' for tenor and piano *2002 ''From the Psalter'' soprano and string orchestra *2002 ''Now Evening after Evening'' for soprano and piano, setting of a poem by

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

*2002 ''A Gloss on 'Round Midnight'' for piano *2003 ''Swan Song No. 1'' for flute, oboe, violin, cello, mandolin (or guitar), and guitar *2003 ''A Waltzer in the House'' for soprano and vibraphone, setting of a poem by

Stanley Kunitz Stanley Jasspon Kunitz (; July 29, 1905May 14, 2006) was an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000. Biography Kunitz was born in Worcester, Massac ...

*2004 ''Round'' for SATB *2004 Concerti for Orchestra, for James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra *2004 ''Autobiography of the Eye'' for soprano and cello, setting of a poem by

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

*2005–6 ''More Melismata'' for solo cello *2006 ''An Encore'' for violin & piano

String quartets

;First period *1948 String Quartet No. 1 (withdrawn) *1954 String Quartet No. 2 ;Second period *1970 String Quartet No. 3 *1970 String Quartet No. 4 ;Third period *1982 String Quartet No. 5 *1993 String Quartet No. 6

Selected discography

*''Clarinet Quintets''. Phoenix Ensemble (Mark Lieb, clarinet; Aaron Boyd, Kristi Helberg, and Alicia Edelberg, violins; Cyrus Beroukhim, viola; Alberto Parinni and Bruce Wang, cellos). (Morton Feldman, ''Clarinet and String Quartet''; Milton Babbitt, Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet). Innova 746. St. Paul, Minnesota: American Composers Forum, 2009. * ''Concerto for Piano And Orchestra/The Head Of The Bed.''

Alan Feinberg Alan Feinberg (born in New York City) is an American classical pianist. He has premiered over 300 works by such composers as John Adams, Milton Babbitt, John Harbison, Charles Ives, Steve Reich, and Charles Wuorinen, as well as the premiere of Mel ...

, piano;

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

, conductor; Judith Bettina, soprano, Parnassus,

Anthony Korf Anthony Korf (born 1951 in New York City) is an American composer, artistic director and conductor. While his output spans vocal and chamber music, his primary focus has been the orchestra, among which ''Goldkind'', a work for young audiences ...

. New World Records 80346. * ''The Juilliard Orchestra''. Vincent Persichetti: ''Night Dances'' (cond. James DePreist); Milton Babbitt: ''Relata I'' (cond. Paul Zukofsky); David Diamond: Symphony No. 5 (cond. Christopher Keene). New World Records 80396–2. New York: Recorded Anthology od Music, 1990. * ''The Juilliard String Quartet: Sessions, Wolpe, Babbitt''. Roger Sessions, String Quartet No. 2 (1951); Stefan Wolpe, String Quartet (1969); Milton Babbitt, String Quartet No. 4 (1970). The Juilliard Quartet (Robert Mann, Joel Smirnoff, violins; Samuel Rhodes, viola; Joel Krosnick, cello). CRI CD 587. New York: Composers Recordings, Inc., 1990. * ''Occasional Variations'' (String Quartets no. 2 and No. 6, ''Occasional Variations'', ''Composition for Guitar''). William Anderson, guitar; Fred Sherry Quartet, Composers String Quartet. Tzadik 7088. New York: Tzadik, 2003. * ''Philomel'' (''Philomel'', ''Phonemena'' for soprano and piano, ''Phonemena'' for soprano and tape, ''Post-Partitions'', ''Reflections''). Bethany Beardslee and Lynne Webber, sopranos; Jerry Kuderna and Robert Miller, pianos. New World Records 80466-2 / DIDX 022920. New York: Recorded Anthology of American Music, 1995. The material on this CD was issued on New World LPs NW 209 and NW 307, in 1977 and 1980, respectively. * Quartet No. 3 for Strings. (With Charles Wuorinen, Quartet for Strings.) The Fine Arts Quartet. Turnabout TV-S 34515. * ''Sextets; The Joy of More Sextets''. Rolf Schulte, violin; Alan Feinberg, piano. New World Records NW 364–2. New York: Recorded Anthology of American Music, 1988. * ''Soli e Duettini'' (''Around the Horn'', ''Whirled Series'', ''None but the Lonely Flute'', ''Homily'', ''Beaten Paths'', ''Play it Again Sam'', ''Soli e Duettini'', ''Melismata'').

The Group for Contemporary Music The Group for Contemporary Music is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1962 by Joel Krosnick, Harvey Sollberger and Charles Wuorinen and gave its first con ...

. Naxos 8559259. *''Three American String Quartets''. Mel Powell, String Quartet (1982); Elliott Carter, Quartet for Strings No. 4 (1986); Milton Babbitt, Quartet No. 5 (1982). Composers Quartet (Matthew Raimondi, Anahid Ajemian, violins; Maureen Gallagher, Karl Bargen, violas; Mark Shuman, cello). Music & Arts CD-606. Berkeley: Music and Arts Program of America, Inc., 1990. * ''An Elizabethan Sextette'' (''An Elizabethan Sextette'', ''Minute Waltz'', ''Partitions'', ''It Takes Twelve to Tango'', ''Playing for Time'', ''About Time'', ''Groupwise'', ''Vision And Prayer'').

, piano;

, soprano; The Group for Contemporary Music,

Harvey Sollberger Harvey Sollberger (born May 11, 1938 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is an American composer, flautist, flutist, and conducting, conductor specializing in contemporary classical music. Life Sollberger holds an M.A. degree from Columbia ...

, conducting. CRI CD 521. New York: Composers Recordings, Inc., 1988. Reissued on CRI/New World NWCR521.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (January 29). Retrieved January 30, 2011.

External links

Avant Garde Project AGP72: Piano music of Milton Babbitt as played by Robert Taub
*

Interviewed by James Romig at the Dickinson College Arts Awards on April 11, 2002.

Interviewed by Gabrielle Zuckerman, American Public Media, July 2002

November 6, 1987
Milton Babbitt Collection, 1970-2005
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Listening

Babbitt's Beguiling Surfaces, Improvised Inside
Three-part video essay from the

Society for Music Theory The Society for Music Theory (SMT) is an American organization devoted to the promotion of music theory as a scholarly and pedagogical discipline. It currently has a membership of over 1200, primarily in the United States. In the 1970s, few schoo ...

Joshua Banks Mailman Joshua Banks Mailman is an American music theorist, as well an analyst, composer, improvisor, philosopher, critic, and technologist of music. Early life and education Joshua Banks Mailman was born in New York City and attended Fiorello H. LaGuar ...

, 2019.
Slowly Expanding Milton Babbitt Album
(since 2018), produced by Erik Carlson
Milton Babbitt interview
from National Public Radio ''Performance Today'' program, May 10, 2006
Speaking of Music: Milton Babbitt
Interviewed by

Charles Amirkhanian Charles Benjamin Amirkhanian (born January 19, 1945; Fresno, California) is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian origin. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music. Perfor ...

, 1984
Art of the States: Milton BabbittRecording
Concerto Piccolino – Lee Ferguson, vibraphon
Luna Nova New Music EnsembleRecording
None But the Lonely Flute – John McMurtery, flute Luna Nova New Music Ensemble
Woodwind Quartet (1953)
performed by members of the

Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet was an American wind quintet that was officially founded in 1962 when Pablo Casals asked its members to become the woodwind faculty of his newly founded Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. It is known worldwide fo ...

.
Robert Hilferty documentary on Milton Babbitt

Milton Babbitt "The Revolution in Musical Thought" The Baltimore Museum of Art: Baltimore, Maryland, 1963
Accessed June 26, 2012
Soni Ventorum plays the Woodwind Quartet

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babbitt, Milton 1916 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century classical composers American electronic musicians American classical composers American male classical composers American music theorists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Jewish American classical composers Juilliard School faculty MacArthur Fellows Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Music & Arts artists Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi Musicians from Philadelphia New York University alumni Nonesuch Records artists People from Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University faculty Pulitzer Prize winners Pupils of Roger Sessions Pupils of Marion Bauer Twelve-tone and serial composers Tzadik Records artists 21st-century American Jews