During a conversation with Frank J. Oteri back in October 2001, Milton Babbitt offered his response to attacks on serialism. Read their entire conversation on NewMusicBox: www.newmusicbox...
"I don't go and try to tell a scientist his business because I don't know anything about it. Music is just the same way. Music is not entertainment." -- Bethany Beardslee, singer of Babbittry
I don't know the context of that quote, but on its own like that it's about as wrong as it's possible to be. Music IS entertainment: that's precisely where it differs from science. If you don't like what science is telling you... well, tough luck: its business is to convey truths about the world. Science is like The News: done well, it tells you what's happening, whether you like it or not. But if you don't like what a musician is playing you, you need to find another musician. Music exists to please us.
@@LemoUtan Have you delegated your judgement to her? You'll concede the point if and only if she does? (In any case, I'm afraid I don't know her personally, or even who she is)
@@henryfitzgerald5857 No delegating going on here - I've my own opinion, which I've not presented as I didn't imagine anyone would be interested in it. Indeed I've no way of knowing if she's still of the same opinion. Concessionwise though, I imagine you'd allow her remarks pertinent? But, since you ask, I'm not sure now what point you're making because the qualification "on its own like that it's [about as] wrong" suggests that perhaps had you known the context, you may have been less likely to report your subsequent opinion as fact.
I don't agree that the interval, as a focal element, is unique to music. In poetry, attention to the immediate succession of sounds, is critical in understanding the structure of a piece of prose. And in the visual arts - adjacent colors and shapes on a canvas are very much in the mind of the viewer, as one scans the canvas. Of course, I am presuming here, that what we mean by "interval" is merely elements of a work in close succession - whether they be sound elements, coloristic elements, or whatever the nature of the building blocks of a work of art.
I love Milton
"I don't go and try to tell a scientist his business because I don't know anything about it. Music is just the same way. Music is not entertainment."
-- Bethany Beardslee, singer of Babbittry
I don't know the context of that quote, but on its own like that it's about as wrong as it's possible to be. Music IS entertainment: that's precisely where it differs from science. If you don't like what science is telling you... well, tough luck: its business is to convey truths about the world. Science is like The News: done well, it tells you what's happening, whether you like it or not. But if you don't like what a musician is playing you, you need to find another musician. Music exists to please us.
You may need to take this up with Beardslee. Although nearly 100, I believe she's still with us.
@@LemoUtan Have you delegated your judgement to her? You'll concede the point if and only if she does? (In any case, I'm afraid I don't know her personally, or even who she is)
@@henryfitzgerald5857 No delegating going on here - I've my own opinion, which I've not presented as I didn't imagine anyone would be interested in it. Indeed I've no way of knowing if she's still of the same opinion. Concessionwise though, I imagine you'd allow her remarks pertinent?
But, since you ask, I'm not sure now what point you're making because the qualification "on its own like that it's [about as] wrong" suggests that perhaps had you known the context, you may have been less likely to report your subsequent opinion as fact.
Science is open to criticism and dispute. Big difference
Sound has intervals but also time and space have intervals.
One of the greatest composers of the 20th/early 21st centuries.
A remarkable man.
Steve Lacy " the saxophone is an interval machine "
Love it.
Like the way this is going. For the next video, shoot for a length of 7 seconds. You can call it "a few words from MB"
The last gasp of a dinosaur.
I got into Babbitt because he was the sole presentation of Electronic.
I don't agree that the interval, as a focal element, is unique to music. In poetry, attention to the immediate succession of sounds, is critical in understanding the structure of a piece of prose. And in the visual arts - adjacent colors and shapes on a canvas are very much in the mind of the viewer, as one scans the canvas. Of course, I am presuming here, that what we mean by "interval" is merely elements of a work in close succession - whether they be sound elements, coloristic elements, or whatever the nature of the building blocks of a work of art.