Milton Babbitt: Strictly systematic structuring of sounds

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them.

In this episode, Kate explores the history of Serialism - that terrifier of music theory students - and one of the key methods through which radical composers tried to break from the past during the 20th century. We’ll pay a visit to both the Viennese master Arnold Schönberg and the Parisian author of an article entitled “Schönberg is Dead”; we'll find out which composer was nicknamed '12-Note Lizzie'; and we'll hear what happened when this controversial compositional technique crossed over into jazz culture. At the heart of the programme, the chance to listen to Milton Babbitt’s landmark work Philomel (1964), which features scored parts for both live and pre-recorded soprano voice, and is one of the very first compositions for the synthesizer.

Born in Philadelphia in 1916, Babbitt was an American composer and academic whose interests included mathematical research and experiments with new electronic instruments. He was a founding member of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3