Introduction to the Music of Milton Babbitt

In this celebration of Milton Babbitt's art, Andrew Mead explores the development of a central figure in contemporary American music. As a teacher and writer, Babbitt has influenced two generations of students, including such notable musicians as Stephen Sondheim and Donald Martino. He has helped establish the study of music theory as a serious academic pursuit, and his articles on Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and the twelve-tone system constitute a seminal body of research. But Babbitt is first and last a composer, whose works are, in Mead's words, "truly music to be heard." With Mead as a guide, we discover the strong emotional and expressive charge of Babbitt's music that is inextricably entwined with its structure.

Babbitt is a twelve-tone composer, unabashedly so, and it is precisely his profound understanding of Arnold Schoenberg's epochal insight that gives Babbitt's music its special quality. By examining the underlying principles of twelve-tone composition, Mead allows us to appreciate Babbitt's music on its own terms, as a richly varied yet unified body of work. In achieving this purpose, he provides an excellent introduction to twelve-tone music in general. Without relying on professional jargon, he lucidly and succinctly explains Babbitt's complexities. A catalog of compositions, a discography, and a bibliography complete a book that will interest performers, music theorists, and music historians, as well as other readers who are enthusiastic or curious about contemporary musical works.

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

List of contents

Acknowledgments 1Milton Babbitt's Compositional World The Twelve-Tone System Babbitt's Pitch Structures Babbitt's Rhythmic Structures 2Mapping Trichordal Pathways (1947-1960) A Wellspring of Possibilities: The Composition for Four Instruments Realizing the Implications of the Composition for Four Instruments Additional Compositional Strategies 3Expansion and Consolidation (1961-1980) Effects of All-Partition Arrays A Brief Venture into Comparative Anatomy Two (Short) Analyses 4The Grand Synthesis (1981-) Superarray Structure and Projection Superarray Compositions Concerted Superarray Compositions Trichordal Arrays and Superarrays Miniatures, Pieces D'Occasion New Departures Epilogue Catalog of Compositions by Milton Babbit All-Partition Arrays Notes Bibliography Discography Index

About the author

Andrew Mead - A Full-stack Developer & Teacher Andrew is a full-stack developer living in beautiful Philadelphia! He launched his first course in 2014 and had a blast teaching and helping others. Since then, he has launched 3 courses with over 110,000 students and over 18,000 5-star reviews. He currently teaches JavaScript, React, and Node. Before he ever thought about teaching, he created a web app development company. He has helped companies of all sizes launch production web applications to their customers. He had the honor of working with awesome companies like Siemens, Mixergy, and Parkloco. He had a Computer Science degree from Temple University, and I've been programming for just over a decade. I love creating, programming, launching, learning, teaching, and biking. He can't wait to see you inside one of my courses!

Summary

In this celebration of Milton Babbitt's art, Andrew Mead explores the development of a central figure in contemporary American music. As a teacher and writer, Babbitt has influenced two generations of students, including such notable musicians as Stephen Sondheim and Donald Martino. He has helped establish the study of music theory as a serious academic pursuit, and his articles on Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and the twelve-tone system constitute a seminal body of research. But Babbitt is first and last a composer, whose works are, in Mead's words, "truly music to be heard." With Mead as a guide, we discover the strong emotional and expressive charge of Babbitt's music that is inextricably entwined with its structure.

Babbitt is a twelve-tone composer, unabashedly so, and it is precisely his profound understanding of Arnold Schoenberg's epochal insight that gives Babbitt's music its special quality. By examining the underlying principles of twelve-tone composition, Mead allows us to appreciate Babbitt's music on its own terms, as a richly varied yet unified body of work. In achieving this purpose, he provides an excellent introduction to twelve-tone music in general. Without relying on professional jargon, he lucidly and succinctly explains Babbitt's complexities. A catalog of compositions, a discography, and a bibliography complete a book that will interest performers, music theorists, and music historians, as well as other readers who are enthusiastic or curious about contemporary musical works.

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Additional text

"This book provides a helpful introduction to twelve-tone music in general without the use of technical jargon."

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Mead, Mead Andrew
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 14.07.2014
• EAN: 9780691601007
• ISBN: 978-0-691-60100-7
• No. of pages: 336
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library; Princeton Legacy Library
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > Music history; MUSIC / History & Criticism, History of Music, Music reviews & criticism, Music reviews and criticism