1' Milton Babbitt: Serialism and its theory as a serious art form Music has been around since mankind began. Throughout the times, music has changed dramatically as it proceeded through different periods.
Alternative Title: Milton Byron Babbitt Milton Babbitt, in full Milton Byron Babbitt, (born May 10, 1916, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died January 29, 2011, Princeton, New Jersey), American composer and theorist known as a leading proponent of total serialism—i.e., musical composition based on prior arrangements not only of all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale (as in 12-tone music) but also of dynamics, duration, timbre (tone colour), and register. Babbitt attended public schools in Jackson, Mississippi; he played violin as a young child and then turned to piano, clarinet, and saxophone. In his youth he loved jazz and other popular music. After beginning mathematics studies at the (100 of 492 words).
Revered for his pioneering work in serial organization and in musical electronics, (born in 1916) was a major American composer, theorist, and teacher. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Jackson, MS, he began his study of the violin at age four. He later learned to play clarinet and saxophone, exhibiting an early interest in jazz and popular song.
Despite his gift for music, he attended the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a career in mathematics. He then decided to attend New York University, studying music with Marion Bauer and Philip James.
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Was attracted to the epochal discoveries of, at a time when twelve-tone and serial techniques were still relatively new. After receiving a B.A. From NYU in 1935, he studied composition with, at first privately, and then later at Princeton University, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in 1942. During World War II he worked as a mathematical researcher and taught mathematics at Princeton. At this time he developed the complex ramifications of 's twelve-tone compositional method into what came to be known as total serialism.
In a nutshell, what this meant was that he expanded 's twelve-tone system, wherein compositional structure is determined by manipulation of a constant sequence of the 12 pitches of the chromatic scale - to other aspects of music: rhythm, dynamics, timbre, and other parameters were structured according to fixed sequences that acquired structural importance both in being manipulated on their own and in interaction with other serial parameters. He succeeded on Princeton's music faculty in 1948 and later taught also at the Juilliard School in New York. Is credited with writing the first serial work, Three Compositions for Piano, in 1947, at least one year before 's studies. 's important early works in his rigorously organized serial style include the first two string quartets (1948, 1954), the jazz-influenced All Set (1957), and Partitions for Piano (1957). Was also responsible for developing and classifying such important serialist concepts as combinatoriality, partitioning, arrays, pitch class, pitch set, and the time-point system.
In extending the challenging language of, 's 'new complexity' continually met with incomprehension from audiences and musicians alike. This led to seek means of composing and performing outside of traditional settings and formats. He found what he was looking for in the emerging analog technology of the RCA Mark II synthesizer and the Columbia-Princeton recording studio, which he co-founded with and in 1959.
One year later, completed his first entirely synthesized work, Vision and Prayer. Philomel (1964) shows his use of the human voice as an essential part of his conception; it was one of the earliest pieces to combine tape playback with a live performance, in this case one by soprano.
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Later works such as Post-Partitions for Piano (1966) and Relata II for Orchestra (1968), show 's increasingly dense modes of musical significance, achieved through close connections between pitch and rhythmic organization, and through the use of every possible musical parameter in delineating structure. String Quartet No. 3 (1970) includes metronomic stability, changes of velocity engineered by changes in metrical density, sectional form, and the use of many other musical parameters - including the distinction between arco and pizzicato string playing - to integrate the polyphony. Performances of these works have rarely been successful, if even possible. In addition to his degrees from NYU and Princeton, received a lifetime Pulitzer Prize in composition for his contributions to twelve-tone and electronic music. He was also recognized by numerous universities for his contributions., who once named as the composer with whom he would most like to have traded places, was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Died in Princeton, NJ on January 29, 2011 at 94 years of age.