Saturday, January 29, 2011

In memoriam Milton Babbitt (May 10, 1916 - January 29, 2011)

The tributes and musings are many:
Matthew Guerrieri
Steve Hicken
Lisa Hirsch
Allan Kozinn
Norman Lebrecht
David Mermelstein (Bloomberg)
Miss Music Nerd
NPR
On An Overgrown Path (Pliable)
Alex Ross
Tim Rutherford-Johnson (The Rambler)
Sequenza 21 (Steve Layton)

I'm not sure what to say. All I know is that there was a day back in 1997 when "20th-Century music" no longer mystified me, and I knew I wanted to focus my research on all it had to offer. Milton Babbitt's name loomed large--as a god in a pantheon not wholly formed. I was fortunate to hear many tales of "Uncle Milty" from my graduate school adviser, but will forever regret never meeting him in person.

No comments:

MUSICALLY MISCELLANEOUS MAYHEM

Mostly Musicology, Teaching, and a bit of Miscellanea