Milton Babbitt (1916 - 2011)

Milton Babbitt is a leading composer, teacher and writer in the field of abstract and intellectual music, and a pioneer of electronic music. At New York University he met the musical heroes of his childhood: Stravinsky, Varèse and most importantly Schoenberg. After graduation, he studied privately with Roger Sessions and worked on extending the principles of serialism beyond the realms of pitch alone. His experience and interest in other musical genres such as jazz has meant that he has had a pivotal role in bridging the gap between serialism and other styles of composition prevalent in the late-twentieth and early twenty first centuries.