Core focus:
- An introduction to Babbitt and his music
- How to approach Babbitt’s music
History of Babbitt
- Most known for his works in Serialism and Electronic music
- Very strong background in mathematics (has an impact on how he conceives music)
- Influenced by Schoenberg and Webern. He first encountered their works when he was studying in New York University and carried on to develop his 12-tone technique.
- He was part of the faculty at Princeton which was at the forefront of electronic music (Griffiths, 1981). This complemented Babbitt in his musical pursuit.
Serialism
- Babbitt’s development of Serialism (different from other serial composers – both his predecessors and contemporaries)
- Pieces to focus on:
Semi-Simple Variations (1956)
Minute Waltz (1977)
- Analysis by Morgan (1992), Wintle (1976), Blaustein and Brody (1986)
- Other interesting ideas identified such as its surface features
Electronic Music
- Babbitt’s purpose of exploring this medium is to achieve precision which is not possible with humans
- There is a need for the electronic medium
Examples of Relata I (1965) and Post-Partitions (1966)
- A piece to focus on:
Composition for Synthesizer (1961)
- Analysis by Morris (1997)
Listening to Babbitt
- Straus’ (1986) opinion on listening to Babbitt’s music is by appreciating the surface features: (a) contours; (b) dynamics; (c) register.
Example of String Quartet No. 2 (1954)
- However, I do have some reservations about Straus’ article.
(i) He focuses all his attention on surface features and relationships and does not agree with an in-depth exploration of Babbitt’s works. I disagree because Babbitt’s music is so much more meaningful and valuable below its surface.
(ii) Using String Quartet No. 2 as a sole example in this article is not a fair representation of all of Babbitt’s works, especially when Straus uses this to prove his point that ‘Babbitt’s music should be appreciated by listening to surface features’. This piece of music is one of Babbitt's simplest in terms of prominence of surface features.
- There is a need to understand the structure and underlying compositional strategies in order to fully appreciate Babbitt’s music.
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2 comments:
Joyce, your essay focus is still not entirely clear to me. Are you going to discuss his serial and electronic music in the larger context of his compositional oeuvre and perhaps compositional philosophy? Or are you going to focus on some aspects of his serial music? (I was surprised that you seem to want to now go into his electronic music) Or are you wanting to discuss some issues pertaining to understandin/listening/approaching his music, in the light of your readings?
The above are just some possibilities that come to my mind looking at your outline. You are not obliged to choose from it but it is to give you some idea of what I mean by focus. One way is to think of a central point that can serve as your conclusion, then work backwards, as it were, to see how you would build your case towards substantiating it.
So far, I'm finding many thoughtful remarks from your postings. I look forward to an insightful essay from you.
yes, as mentioned in the posting, my focus is more of approaching/ understanding/ listening to Babbitt's music. that's why it encompasses both his Serial and Electronic music.
ok my conclusion would be that "there is a need to understand the structure and underlying compositional strategies in order to fully appreciate Babbitt’s music".
so my essay would include descriptions/analyses of his serial and electronic music, as well as Straus' differing opinion.
is this on the right track?
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