Milton Babbitt - 100 Years, 6. Art Song and other vocal works

Disjunct vocal lines, formidable rhythms, and a generally theoretical approach have not endeared Babbitt to the average singer. Nevertheless, his attention to the sonic properties of words and his expressive, if unorthodox, feeling for the text, distinguish his vocal music.⁽¹⁾

Milton Babbitt (1916 - 2011) started arranging popular songs at age seven and won a songwriting contest at age thirteen. Well into his old age he possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of American songs.

In 1946 he collaborated on a musical Fabulous Voyage which was not produced and from which Three Theatrical Songs for voice and piano were extracted. Did this early setback prompt the composer's turn to academia, to the rigours of a maximized version of twelve-tone music, to the extreme demands on singers and audience in his vocal works?

Babbitt took the greatest care when selecting texts for his vocal music, and with his music he enhanced their expression. Listening to these works without the lyrics is difficult.  Here are some vocal works from Babbitt's first (trichordal arrays) and second (all-partition arrays) period. ⁽²⁾

From Sour Grapes: a book of poems, and early collection of William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963), A Widow's Lament in Springtime (1951) for soprano and piano.



The song cycle Du (You) (1951) for soprano and piano, is based on poems by August Stramm (1874 - 1915), a German poet and playwright who is considered one of the first expressionists.  Du was published in 1915 while the poet was at the front in World War I.  He would die in action.

The poems deal with interpersonal relationships and the distance between the Ich and the Du, a distance which will not be resolved. We hear Wiedersehen (Reunion), Wankelmut (Fickleness), Begegnung (Encounter), Verzweifelt (Desperate), Allmacht (Omnipotence), Traum (Dream), and Schwermut (Melancholy).



Two Sonnets (1955) for baritone, clarinet, viola, and cello, to two poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889): (1) Spelt from Sibyl's Leavesand (2) That Nature Is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection.

While sputtering riffs and fidgety figurations ripple through the instruments, lyrical lines somehow thread through the textures. ⁽³⁾

The first video features the first sonnet only. The second video is a live performance of both sonnets, but with less perfect sound.





Vision and Prayer (1961) for soprano and synthesized tape, was first set for soprano and piano in 1954. It is a setting of a poem by Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953).



Philomel (1964) for soprano, recorded soprano, and synthesized tape is a setting of text by John Hollander (1929 - 2013). The composition is 'a re-interpretation of a scena drammatica with its distinct recitative–arioso–aria layout.'⁽⁴⁾ It is one of Babbitt's best-performed vocal works.



In Phonemena for soprano and piano (1969 version) or synthesized tape (1975 version) Babbitt generates his text, or phonemes, as a natural extension of his compositional procedures. ⁽⁵⁾



A Solo Requiem (1977) for soprano and two pianos composed in memory of Godfrey Winham.

Comment by Mel Powell: [Hindemith] would have loved, as I love, as any musician must love, your magnificent Solo Requiem. Even though one has come to expect only grand sturdy works from you, this seems to me to be incomparably strong, majestically honoring the memory of Godfrey. ⁽⁶⁾

Babbitt uses the following texts: Sonnet 71 (Shakespeare, 1564 (baptised) - 1616), No Worst, There is None (Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844 - 1889), Dirge in Woods (George Meredith, 1828 - 1909), Urtod Death (August Stramm), In the Memory of Mr. Oldham (John Dryden, 1631 - 1700), Sonnet 71 (Shakespeare).







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⁽¹⁾ Victoria Etnier Villamil, "A Singer's Guide to the American Art Song: 1870-1980." Scarecrow Press, Oct 5, 2004, p. 11. (https://books.google.com/books?id=wRqH0fccAb4C&lpg=PA11&dq=american%20art%20song%2Bmilton%20babbitt&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q=american%20art%20song%20milton%20babbitt&f=false (03/11/2016))
⁽²⁾ For more about Babbitt's style, see Paul Riker, "The Serialism of Milton Babbitt." Paulriker.com. (http://paulriker.com/words/The_Serialism_of_Milton_Babbitt.pdf (03/11/2016))
⁽³⁾ Anthony Tommasini, "A Birthday Party for Milton Babbitt, an Atonal Master." Classical Music Review, The New York Times, 05/12/2006. (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/arts/music/12babb.html?_r=1& (03/11/2016))
⁽⁴⁾ As quoted in the work's Wikipedia page: Hair, Graham, and Stephen Arnold. "Some Works of Milton Babbitt, Reviewed", Tempo, new series, no. 90 (1969): 33–34. Citation on p. 34 JSTOR. (Accessed 5 May 2011).
⁽⁵⁾ Mikel Kuehn, "The Phenomena of Phonemena: Structure and Realization in Milton Babbitt's Work for Soprano and Synthesized Tape." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Rochester, New York, 1995, p. 22. (https://urresearch.rochester.edu/institutionalPublicationPublicView.action?institutionalItemId=4551 (03/11/2016))
⁽⁶⁾ lendallpitts, "Milton Babbitt, A Solo Requiem Part One Bethany Beardslee, soprano." Notes to YouTube video, 10/31/2009. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpKea02bjA (03/11/2016))