Milton Babbitt – Playing for Time / About Time
855 بار بازدید -
3 سال پیش
-
Thomas Feng, pianoperformed live(-streamed), May
Thomas Feng, piano
performed live(-streamed), May 2021
Lincoln Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Playing for Time 0:00
About Time 2:50
Milton Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and professor. He developed a highly parameterized approach to composition, often described as “total serialism”, and was a pioneer of electronic music. He is also the author of the (in)famous essay he titled “The Composer as Specialist”, published in 1958 with the unauthorized title “Who Cares if You Listen?”
Despite its unsettled surface, “Playing for Time” is entirely in ¾. Each measure, taking a little less than three seconds, contains all twelve notes of the chromatic scale at least once – swiftly spinning in harmonic circles, playfully stalling, or “playing for time”.
In contrast, "About Time" is more lyrical and expansive. The pianist's two hands begin the piece echoing each other, across a wide span of the keyboard. These echoes gradually become distorted, ultimately diverging into their own distinct lines, constantly playing with and against each other. Indeed, the piece might be heard as an extended conversation between different parts of the keyboard.
The music proceeds in a series of rhapsodic episodes; though nothing seems to repeat exactly, fleeting moments may give a feeling of déjà vu or mirage. Time here seems to stretch and compress: a single second might hold a flurry of notes, or be elided in a long arching melody.
"Playing for Time" (1977) and "About Time" (1982) are the first two entries in Babbitt's three-part "Time Series". "Overtime" (1987) is not included presently.
performed live(-streamed), May 2021
Lincoln Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Playing for Time 0:00
About Time 2:50
Milton Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and professor. He developed a highly parameterized approach to composition, often described as “total serialism”, and was a pioneer of electronic music. He is also the author of the (in)famous essay he titled “The Composer as Specialist”, published in 1958 with the unauthorized title “Who Cares if You Listen?”
Despite its unsettled surface, “Playing for Time” is entirely in ¾. Each measure, taking a little less than three seconds, contains all twelve notes of the chromatic scale at least once – swiftly spinning in harmonic circles, playfully stalling, or “playing for time”.
In contrast, "About Time" is more lyrical and expansive. The pianist's two hands begin the piece echoing each other, across a wide span of the keyboard. These echoes gradually become distorted, ultimately diverging into their own distinct lines, constantly playing with and against each other. Indeed, the piece might be heard as an extended conversation between different parts of the keyboard.
The music proceeds in a series of rhapsodic episodes; though nothing seems to repeat exactly, fleeting moments may give a feeling of déjà vu or mirage. Time here seems to stretch and compress: a single second might hold a flurry of notes, or be elided in a long arching melody.
"Playing for Time" (1977) and "About Time" (1982) are the first two entries in Babbitt's three-part "Time Series". "Overtime" (1987) is not included presently.
3 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1400/09/07 منتشر شده
است.
855
بـار بازدید شده