milton babbitt 'who cares if you listen?' also s/d

About the essay, first of all: I think it's well known that Babbitt didn't choose the title and regrets being known by it. (The first of the alternative titles mentioned in the opening of the essay was the one Babbitt evidently wanted.) But he did write the essay, in his characteristically dense and punning-without-stopping-to-catch-a-breath fashion. So ... one recording that's particularly relevant to the sentiments of that essay is the collection "Soli e duettini," performed by The Group for Contemporary Music on Koch. It includes two of his most appealing late-period works (Whirled Series for alto sax and piano; Melismata for solo violin), plus a reading by Babbitt himself of his essay "On Having Been and Still Being an American Composer (from 1989). Joseph Dubiel's liner notes for the release are also illuminating.

There are obvious objections to be raised to WCIYL beyond its provocative title. For instance, supposing you accept that Babbitt's music is akin to work in abstract mathematics, which is appreciated by other specialists but incomprehensible to the rest of us. On one view, the value of abstract mathematics is that eventually, some of its results have practical applications in the sciences and engineering, and that is its benefit to society. But I don't think anyone, not even Babbitt himself, envisions a more accessible "applied music" falling out of his abstract practice.

About the composer and his music more generally: there's probably no more extreme case of a composer adopting a radical stance and holding his ground despite being misunderstood and eventually "left behind" by changing musical fashions, to such an extent that he now seems old-fashioned. And there's possibly no more extreme case of a composer creating music that invites -- and perhaps even requires -- listening strategies divergent from the only approach to the music in which the composer himself has shown any interest. If you want to gain a better understanding of the mechanics of Babbitt's music, then some of the following might be worth reading. Listed in order from most to least accessible: his Words and Music (transcripts of a series of lectures); Andrew Mead's The Music of Milton Babbitt (which gets repetitive as a result of hashing through the details of piece after piece); and The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt, a recent and affordably priced volume from Princeton University Press -- but not an easy read!

Maybe it's worth attempting a vastly simplified summary of how a typical Babbitt piece "works" in technical terms. He is, as is well-known, a twelve-tone composer. What this means in his case is that each piece is based on a particular ordering of the twelve pitch classes of the chromatic scale -- a twelve-tone "row" -- transformed and combined in systematic ways in order to generate material for the whole piece. More specifically, he has developed various strategies for combining multiple transformations of a row, such that the content of columns is also regulated. So the background pitch structure of a Babbitt piece can be pictured as a two-dimensional "array": in each row you find linear statements of transformations of the twelve-tone row, and in each column you find content that is consistent in some principled way (often, each column is made to include all twelve pitch classes without duplication). Rhythm is organized by analogy with pitch, so that the pattern of pitch intervals determined by the row gets translated into a series of time intervals. In earlier works, the details are different, but typically the rhythmic structure can be said to be based on another "array" of the same type as the one governing pitch structure. At this point, various other musical parameters are rallied for the purpose of expressing the structure of the arrays. For instance, each row of the pitch class array might be expressed as pitches in a different register and/or carried by a different instrument or performance technique. And each row of the timepoint array might be associated with a different level of loudness. So Babbitt's music ends up being richly detailed in part because it takes a lot of detail to express the complex underlying structure.

On one level, this complexity is pretty arbitrary. If we say the details are "expressing" the underlying structure we'd better acknowledge that no human "receiver" has a chance of decoding those expressions and reconstituting the underlying structure. And that's the basis for many a negative critique of Babbitt's work. But I think the "cryptography" critique misses another point. As complex and arbitrary as these machinations may seem, they do have immediate and appreciable consequences for the musical result. For instance, if rows of the pitch class array are differentiated by register, then whenever there is an empty row in a portion of the design, there will be an audible "gap" in the registral space of the music. Indeed this is one of the most immediate characteristics of Babbitt's music: its unusual mobility across different registral configurations. In Canonical Form, for solo piano, the opening of the piece is confined to the very lowest register of the instrument, and the higher registers emerge one-by-one as the music unfolds -- all of this as a result of the structural conceits that Babbitt has put in place.

My main point, I suppose, is that there is a connection, a very complicated and often indirect connection, between Babbitt's hyper-structuralism and the appealing qualities of his best music. I'll get to the S/D of specific compositions in another post.

Selected vocal music: The Head of the Bed; A Solo Requiem (only on LP, long out of print)
Selected electronic music: Occasional Variations
Voice plus electronics: Vision and Prayer; Philomel; Phonemena (version with electronics)
Solo instrument plus electronics: Images (sax), Reflections (piano)

Especially lyrical instrumental pieces: Consortini; Groupwise
Especially effervescent instrumental pieces: lots of solo piano works; Sextets and The Joy of More Sextets (violin and piano)

Uncharacteristic but appealing earlier works: All Set (for "jazz" combo); String Quartet No. 2

Curiosity but not very good: Three Theatrical Songs (second-rate show-tunes)

the problem may well be that babbitt is neither traditional nor radical enough.

I think Babbitt is *more* radical. The goals of the New Complexity composers (most of whom I enjoy, probably more than I enjoy Babbitt on balance) are often rather traditionally expressive -- or hyper-expressive. They value virtuosity, they conjure emotional states, they construct narratives that connect to other things in the world. Their technical means are mainly eclectic: they pick up different tools to aim towards different effects.

In contrast, there's Babbitt's almost zen-like adherence to a particular structured practice, which isn't enlisted in support of achieving any expressive goal. The structure is the main thing (although not quite the only thing) Babbitt wants to express, and the primary mental experience he wants to conjure in the listeners mind is the pleasure that can arise from apprehending a complex and deeply interconnected structure.

Arguably, Babbitt is radical in the "wrong" way: his radical idea is about how a piece can be made, and how its means of construction relates to its value. He's not very concerned whether there's anything recognizably radical in the result, on the surface.

Also, Babbitt has never been interested in exploring new performance techniques that way a Barrett or Ferneyhough does so thoroughly. (But Finnissy, too, is conservative in this respect...)

And I guess that's where we differ, somewhat. I find the results of what Babbitt does to be oftentimes interesting and sometimes really beautiful: the sparkle and agility of his piano writing, the transparency of his ensemble textures, they way in which a melodic line will hold stubbornly to a single pitch in one register while spilling forth a profusion of notes in another.

And I think if you really pause to consider the choices that remain for Babbitt to make, beyond everything that's determined systematically by his serial procedures, it's not fair to call the human element "accidental." It's not just the case that his music is built the way he wants to build it; surely it also sounds the way he wants it to sound, including the sparkle, the transparency, and the irregular flow. It's regrettable that he's always been to fastidious to say much about the *sound* of his music.

I'm looking at the back of the tzadik disc now - it has has string quartet no2 and no6. It starts with the latter and it absolutely wore me down. It also has 'occasional variations': not too bad on the one listen, I found. and then a piece for guitar: v average sounding, that one, but I've heard far too much gtr and maybe just need to get into another frame of mind for that type of piece. I'll follow the advice and immerse for a while. will get the new world disc (philomel etc) and report someday...maybe he gives the ultimate expression to an attempt at non-expressivity. dislike of sound talk is reminiscent of ppl who improvise as a means to make music.

played a charles wuorien (those two are lumped together in my head) disc today (again on tzadik): i really love 'new york notes' (small ensemble + tape part) and liked 'time's encomium' and 'lepton'.

thx everyone

"dislike of sound talk is reminiscent of ppl who improvise as a means to make music"

What do you mean by this? (Sorry I'm not grasping it...)

the babbitt I like is definitely thirty-cups-of-coffee music and not comforting-evening-with-a-bottle-of-red-wine music

for years all I had was the New World disc with 'Philomel', liked it okay but I get worn down by traditional soprano delivery. it's an obstacle for me with _all_ 20th century concert music, I prefer instrumental Webern & Schoenberg, philistine like that

I like 'Ensembles for Synthesizer' from 64, pure electronic music, classic boopy soundset lights my geek awake & the way the tambres shift constantly with the chisled melodic lines is convincing.

also like the 'Piano Works' disc performed by Robert Taub... and immersed myself for a few days... liked it! relentless pure information, but... once again, convincing

out of print but I see it used a lot. sounds excellent mixed loudly over strict tempo music that would otherwise be too repetitive.

have it on now but gotta say there's a Free Design record next in the stack, and it's calling

so that reminded me of what you said abt Babbitt not being that interested in the way his music sounds.

[Bridge Records BCD9008]
Spinoff (violin, bass, percussion)
Highly charged, lots of rhythmic appeal

[Tzadik TZ 8101]
Third Piano Concerto
cool opening movement, great transition from manic first movement to sudden stasis in second movement

[Koch International Classics 3-7123-2]
Horn Trio; Horn Trio Continued (amazing pieces)
Trio for Bass Instruments
Trombone Trio
(to clarify: Horn Trio = violin/horn/piano, as is standard; Trombone Trio = trombone/mallet percussion/piano)

[New World Records NW 385-2]
Sonata for Violin and Piano
gorgeous piece that makes very effective use of recognizable thematic returns

[Koch International Classics 3-7121-2]
Second String Quartet
more of a "texture" piece than is typical for Wuorinen

[Koch International Classics 3-7110-2]
Five (concerto for amplified cello and orchestra)
I especially like the second movement (and so does Wuorinen or his webmaster, evidently -- it's a listening clip for this disc at http://www.charleswuorinen.com/discography.html)

anyway, i like some wuorinen, so i thought i'd try some babbitt out and then i felt like posting my immediate impressions.

so, just listened to "whirled series", which i thought "jumpy" enough not to be boring (correctly within the various scales, not sloppy nor pedantic). Actally, some babbitt piano i listened to last night made me think of cecil taylor.

yeah i like the almost "minimalist" repetition of the possibilities presented with the artful illusion of thoroughness and necessity, as though existing just on the point-ful side of completeness. I also like the forward momentum, not "too jazzy".

as though it's official, it's a statistically useable sample

I came across the dbl CD on Koch I remember liking it quite a bit although i've not spent the time I wanted on it to post more. I thought that many of the compositions had a (as gg says) jump to it. Its funny how, despite not wanting to "express", he ends up evoking what he listened to. That is part of what constitutes expression to me..

So now I'm interested in hearing 'all set' as i've come across this "history of jazz" essay while browsing at the library that mentioned it as an early link between classical and jazz.

Can't really add much that Paul in SC hasn't said, but Babbitt has been getting a lot of plays here recently.

So far my favorite pieces have been the five string quartets (No. 1 is withdrawn). Nos. 2 and 6 are on the Tzadik release with two other pieces, the others are OOP but rather easy to find in LP rips if you're looking in the right place.

The quartets have a sort of "radical traditionalism" that I like — like he has absorbed and sublimated an entire century of quartet writing rather than any kind of self-conscious break with tradition like Lachenmann and others.

Relata I for orchestra is a bracing quasi-Varèsian sound experience. It's pointless to try and accurately describe this music, but I'll say that it has a "thousand points of light" feel that I love.

Much prefer his brand of American music to Cage et. al. There's just more "there" there.

R.I.P.

"I dare suggest that the composer would do himself and his music an immediate and eventual service by total, resolute, and voluntary withdrawal from this public world to one of private performance and electronic media, with its very real possibility of complete elimination of the public and social aspects of musical composition. By so doing, the separation between the domains would be defined beyond any possibility of confusion of categories, and the composer would be free to pursue a private life of professional achievement, as opposed to a public life of unprofessional compromise and exhibitionism."

and, thus, chillwave was born...

ah, you can always trust the old serialists to deliver when it comes to quotes about how appalling wider society is. But dude was a bro, or at least his music was good. RIP.

RIP

RIP. I've said before that his "A Solo Requiem" for soprano and two pianos was Babbitt's neglected masterpiece. It was written to grieve the early death of Godfrey Winham, his brilliant student and dear friend, and is one of Babbitt's most lyrical and moving works. I hope his death will at least provide an occasion to revive this work and reissue the wonderful Beardslee/Continuum recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpKea02bjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8B0edBXM8w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=063s1WW7P2Y

^ Great post. RIP.

24 hour tribute on WKCR coming up at 1AM Eastern Time.

RIP

Reminiscences at New Music Box by

Judith Bettina - David Rakowski

A flac of the Solo Requiem is available in lovingly vinylripped form on the Wolf Fifth blog, as are a couple of other Babbitt works (and an ocean of further goodness). Just click the composer name in the bar on the right.

I just watched this NPR documentary on the man -- guy seemed like a fun dude! :D

Been babbitting quite a bit the past week actually; have really liked the early Composition for four instruments, the Correspondences for orchestra and electronics, and the fifth string quartet. Repeated listening is indeed u&k.

Wolf Fifth recently went down due to © hasslez. :( Am downloading stuff at top speed from the Avant Garde Project in case it is similarly afflicted...

Loving ALL the MB SQs I've heard so far! With #2 it seems one can choose any point between a) yow this is some music wtf hurrah and b) I am now listening to a very well-made <babbittvoicefromthatdocumentary> beginner's lesson on how to listen to, and construe in one's listening mind, a serial composition</babbittvoicefromthatdocumentary>, and thus have great fun in only about 13 minutes!

Hammered "Philomel" a few times today, and really do not get what milton upthread meant by "liked it okay but I get worn down by traditional soprano delivery". I have some troubles with trad-sop-delivery as well, but this doesn't register with me as that at all -- maybe more like the musical-theatre tradition, but obviously not *like* that either. Dunno. Maybe Pierrot has confused it all.

Woah ten years.

Have I got so old that I suck at searching, have I got so old that all search functionality has been wingclipped, or is the second string quartet actually impossible to stream on like Spotify and YouTube? I have a local copy, but.

Documentary mentioned on 2012-11-02 still works though! :D

(possibly 2012-11-01 for usonian time zones?)

It's good that doc is still working!

milton babbitt is the part in the serialism bible where i go grab a beer

I laughed to read this. I’m a huge fan of Darmstadt serialism, and I own a vast library of not only Boulez, Nono, Berio etc. recordings but also lesser-known serialists like Paavo Heininen or Gunnar Berg. But I never did get around to checking out Babbitt, and I wonder if the reputation he developed has subconsciously discouraged me.

Berio’s not really a serialist, is he?

I totally get you, Melomane, in that I sense not a great deal of commonality between eg Boulez(ians) and Babbitt(ians) re approach to serialism. I guess the Book on this says that the US was more directly downstream from Schönberg (as he moved there), while the Euros worshipped Webern to a possible fault – but that certainly doesn't explain it all. I suspect the (Schönberg -> ) Sessions? -> Babbitt axis may be an actual Thing unrelated *in principle* to the Boulez/Stockhausen/Maderna/Nono tradition... but then again, I read this post over, and realize I do not actually have any clue. Would love be able to read 22nd-century music historians on this. :-D

lesser-known serialists like Paavo Heininen or Gunnar Berg.

ooh thanks for tips! Years ago, a friend of mine sent me a youtube of an extremely beautiful orchestral (or chamber?) composition by Bo Nilsson, which I now cannot seem to find. Also, Karel Goeyvaerts.

(xp) He was in the 50s.

Lesser known serialists I like include Nikos Skalkottas. I also like when composers who weren't serialists dabbled in it, like Britten or Ginastera.

Berio was definitely a serialist. His 1950s works like the String Quartet and Alleluja are almost doctrinaire examples of Darmstadt serialism. Even if later works feature considerably more varied approaches, Points on the Curve to Find, for example, famously uses a repeating ten-tone row.

the documentary was fantastic

I also like when composers who weren't serialists dabbled in it, like Britten or Ginastera.

Yes! Not to mention the biggest fish of them all, Stravinsky!