American Music Pioneer Milton Babbitt passes away

On Saturday, January 29, 2011 avant-garde composer Milton Babbitt passed away.  He was 96.  Babbitt, born May 10, 1916, is best known for his work in incorporating the synthesizer into contemporary classical music.  In the 1950s Babbitt was hired by RCA as a consultant to help develop the Mark II synthesizer.  He was also the founder and director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center where the Mark II was installed.

Milton Babbitt's most famous composition is Philomel (1964) for soprano, recorded soprano and synthesized sounds.  The text for Philomel was written by John Hollander.  This piece was commissioned by the Ford Foundation for Bethany Beardslee.  Philomel is a milestone of post-war composition.  Babbitt's intertwining of the voice with the recorded and synthesized sounds is nothing short of phenomenal.

In addition to his work as a composer, Babbitt is well-known for a controversial and thought provoking article "Who Cares If You Listen?"  This article was published in the magazine High Fidelity.  Babbitt's original title was "The Composer as Specialist."  The title was changed by an editor at the magazine without Babbitt's knowledge or consent.  In 2006 Babbittt commented, "Obviously, I care if people listen; above all I care HOW they listen."

In 1992 Princeton awarded Milton Babbitt a doctorate.  This comes 46 years after his dissertation on the 12-tone system of modern composers was rejected.  This doctorate was awarded after he was given an honorary doctorate in the previous Spring.  Babbitt received the Pulitzer citation for his life's work in 1982.  In 1988 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

In the 2006 book Music Downtown, Kyle Gann wrote, "You can't outdo Babbitt, you can only become a watered-down imitation."  Gann would go on in his book to judge Milton Babbitt and Pierre Boulez to be as influential in their time as Palestrina and Bach were in their time.  Babbitt felt strongly that "music should be an advanced subject that's open to study and contemplation the way philosophy and mathematics is."  Babbitt embodied that spirit in his work.

The music of Milton Babbitt is as American as that of Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.  Though Babbitt's music bears no resemblance sonically, it is the development and ingenuity of the music that embodies the American spirit.

  
  

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