Milton Babbitt

Babbitt in the 1950s

Babbitt - overview Born in Philadelphia, PA. Raised in Jackson, MS Early studies in violin and clarinet Performed in concert orchestras, music theater orchestras, and dance bands Studied at University of Pennsylvania and NYU Composer and music theorist Taught from 1938 – 1985 at Princeton University Taught at Juilliard from

WWII and Broadway During the Second World War, Babbitt taught mathematics at Princeton University in support of the war effort. He also did work in Washington, DC that was top secret. To his dying day, he wouldn’t discuss it. Once the war was over, Babbitt decided to try his hand at composing a Broadway musical. Fabulous Voyage (1946), loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, was a flop. Babbitt never composed for the stage again.

Babbitt and jazz There are subtle references to jazz in Babbitt’s concert music Babbitt’s knowledge of “Tin Pan Alley” era songs and jazz standards was encyclopedic: he could quote the verses to thousands of pop songs from memory A more explicit reference to jazz is made in “All Set” Composed in 1957, it married 12-tone writing with jazz instrumentation Clip: Audio clip of All SetAudio clip of All Set

Babbitt and serialism

Babbitt’s principal teacher in the 1930s was Roger Sessions However, he became fascinated with the12-tone compositions of Arnold Schoenberg By 1947, Babbitt was experimenting with ways of extending Schoenberg’s use of the 12-tone technique. He extended the parameters of 12-tone composition to embrace the organization of rhythm, dynamics, and even articulations. Babbitt became an influential figure in espousing “serialism,” using 12-tone series to help shape all of a composition’s parameters.

Semi-Simple variations A relatively short example is Semi-Simple Variations (1956) All of the material in the piece is derived from the first hexachord of a single twelve-tone row. This “source set” is partitioned into trichords. The trichords are then used in various permutations to form 12-tone series There are 6 different rows used: the original “source set” and five “derived series.” (See handout for further discussion) Video clip (w/score)

Electronic Music Babbitt was one of the first composers of electronic music to use the synthesizer Prior to synthesizers, composers used various electronic instruments such as theremin and ondes martenot They also composed music using tape, which involved a great deal of painstaking editing of minute tape splices The RCA Mark II Synthesizer, housed at the Columbia- Princeton Electronic Music Center, was an enormous machine, but Babbitt felt that it was capable of replicating his musical ideas with more exacting detail than live performers

Ensembles for Synthesizer (1964) (audio excerpt) (audio excerpt)

Philomel (1964) For soprano, overdubbed sopranos, and synthesized tape Text written by contemporary American poet John Hollander Based on a story by Ovid, in which a violated young woman is turned into a bird in order to “sing” her story Early use of overdubbed voice (prior to its use by the Beatles and psychedelic rock bands) Synthesizer is expressive of Philomel’s voiceless condition and subsequent tranfiguration Audio excerpt

Later Music – Swan Song No. 1 (1993) audio clip audio clip